I hope you dance

Never let the fear of striking out

keep you from playing the game.

I watched "A Cinderella Story" tonight. A truly enjoyable teen chick flick. I liked this quote from the movie. How many things could I apply this to? I can think of quite a few off the top of my head; things that I'd love to accomplish but am afraid of failing miserably at. Also kind of makes me think of the lyrics to Lee Ann Womack's song, "I Hope You Dance."

"....and when you get the chance

to sit it out or dance

I hope you dance...."

I guess I think of my girls and of how much I hope & pray to instill in them the motivation to do their best but not to push them too hard. To have high expectations for them but to keep those expectations realistic. To want the best for them but sometimes let them fall on their faces if it means they'll learn something valuable from the experience. To want them to succeed but not try to relive my life through theirs. To want them to realize that pleasing God is of the upmost importance in their lives above all else while also realizing myself that they have to come to believe that on their own and not just believe it because I tell them to believe it.

I guess I'm being kind of deep. I just sometimes sit back & watch Gracie and observe all the changes she's going through this year. There are so many things that make me swell with pride. There are times I want to jump in and say, "Uh...wait. No, you should do it this way" or "No maam. You should have said this." Then I have to take a deep breath and remember that she's only 5 and she has to figure some things out for herself. And I really have to say that she's doing a pretty bang up job! I know every parent is proud of their children, but wow! There are just times I want to cuddle up with her and never let her go. Then I realize that had I done that earlier this year, she wouldn't have developed some of the skills & attributes that I'm currently admiring.

I keep remembering what my wonderful friend & mentor, LeAnna Hale, told me back in the summer. You have to give them roots and wings. I see Gracie's roots burrowing deeper & deeper in Godly soil all the time and I see her wings expanding in so many areas. I see things happening that previously would have ended in crying & tattling that now she shrugs off & figures out on her own. Kind of gives me hope for Katie's 2 year old behavior! LOL

Praise God for the wonderful things our children learn, for it is all because of Him!

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I am feeling better! Every now & then I'll still feel a little twinge of pain in my throat, but I still have about 5 days of my antibiotic left. It was so wonderful having my mom here to help. Seriously, I was spoiled! She came Wednesday and immediately started changing the sheets on my bed and Gracie's bed (since that's where she was going to sleep.) She started laundry and made a grocery list then took Katie with her to Kroger. I was left home alone to nap. Of course, as luck would have it, I'm not sure I slept because I was on edge as to whether or not she would get back in time to get Gracie! (silly, I know!) She got back in plenty of time and she & Katie took off to pick up Gracie. As I had been looking through her Paula Deen magazine, I noticed a recipe for Chicken Pot Pie and remarked that we hadn't had a good CPP in awhile. So, guess what we had for dinner that night! Can you say comfort food? So good! She also made this amazing chocolate bundt cake with fudge icing. Uh, yeah, yum! She took Gracie to school Thursday morning and I was able to sleep in a little. I did run a few errands then ate a homemade pimento cheese sandwich for lunch. I took a long nap that afternoon! She made a beef stroganoff type dish for dinner that night that she served with rice, lima beans & bread. She had also made a taco soup that we never ate so it will probably be dinner tomorrow night. This morning we went to look at washing machines because she said she & dad will buy us a new one for my birthday. Whoo hoo! Ours is in serious need of being replaced and when she was doing so much laundry, I guess it hit home how bad ours was. I don't know what kind we'll get; it won't be too fancy schmancy, but it'll be better than what we have and I will be grateful! We also went to Hobby Lobby then I took her to lunch at Atlanta Bread Company. It was really nice to be able to relax knowing that she was cooking and caring for the girls.

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Chris went to work today to make up some time that he missed earlier in the week when he took off to be with me. He played golf this evening, so a couple of moms came over with their kids to play in the backyard and eat hot dogs. That was fun even though we had to move indoors soon after the guys got back because the mosquitos were gettin' us! The weather was perfect though, cool even.

Gracie cracked us up because of one of her friends had brought her some books that his Nana was getting rid of. Mainly Barbie books & coloring books. The girl loves to color & read, what can I say? She kept saying that she wanted to read. While we were outside, I convinced her that she should play. Inside, I said maybe her friends wouldn't want to. She said she could read to them. I said that was fine if they wanted to. Of course, those 2 boys weren't too keen on that (although if it had just been 1 they might have been okay but maybe they had to look "cool" to each other! LOL) At one point, the boys were cleaning up, which was great because they did a fantastic job, and Gracie was having a drink. I told her to stay in the kitchen or sit at the table while she drank, and she said, "I'm going to read while I drink" so she sat there at the table reading. When one of the families left, she got out her crayons and started coloring and the other boy did a dot-to-dot. When they left, she sat on the couch and just read & read & read. I told her that sometimes I can be with a group of friends and secretly wish I could just be by myself reading, too. My mom used to love to tell the story of me cleaning the toilet with one hand and holding a book in the other! To this day, I will read while I dry my hair. It runs in the girl's blood!

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I have been officially elected the PTA secretary for next year at Gracie's school. I am excited! I ran uncontested so it's not like I won a popularity contest or anything, but I am truly excited. I didn't go to the meeting last night where they did the elections so I had to wait until tonight when I finally talked to someone who knew what was going on to find out. The sad (or funny?) thing is that the lady who was secretary this year got elected President without meaning to! She was going to stay secretary but had decided to move to VP since I said I would do secretary. She had talked to me about not wanting to be President....really noone wanted to be. Well, they had sent out forms where we could nominate someone, or ourselves, to be an officer. I had told someone on the nominating committee that I would be secretary, but I filled out the form so that it would be "official." Lecia had nominated herself for VP, but someone, I don't think we know who, nominated her to be President and I guess she didn't object until after the meeting, so now she's President! I know she'll do a great job and I really look forward to working with her. She is an open believer in God and I outright told her how happy I was about that and she was grateful for my words, so I just feel really happy to work with her in this position. Moral to this story may be to attend the election meeting next year so I can object if anyone decides to nominate me for something I don't want to be! LOL

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Miss S sent home a sweet, sweet note for Gracie today, along with 2 brand new books. It was a note full of praise & encouragement. I love her attitude of validating & encouraging Gracie in her interests & abilities!

Chris & Gracie made it into the paper for the 'Mother Goose on the Loose' activity last week. They both had their picture in there and Chris' interview along with my friend, Mary Beth's, interview, too!

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We have a picnic for Chris' work tomorrow. Hope that'll be fun. You just never know.

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My mom was asking me how to find a blog. I was showing her my blog and all the links I have. She kept saying, "And people want to read about that?" I assured her that sometimes they do. I don't think she realizes that much of my desire to do this is to keep a journal of our family's life. Bonding with other bloggers is pure icing! I was teasing her that she was going to start a blog. She said she's not, but I'm going to keep bugging her about it!

JettyBetty~I told her how you've done like every Beth Moore study and she said, "Good for her!" She like BM, too!

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We have a good Life Group planned for Sunday. I think there will be some fishing earlier in the afternoon then Bible Study then a cookout hosted by the people whose house we've been meeting at for March & April. The most exciting thing about it is that the husband of the family doesn't regularly attend church, but recently told his wife he would attend with her for awhile and I think it was his idea to cook for all of us. He is such a nice man and I think his heart & mind are being touched. God is amazing!

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Dear Lord,

Thank you for helping me feel better! Please be with the man I mentioned above and help him to see how much he needs You, as we all do. Please help me as I try to serve in this PTA position and help me to serve as You want me to. Help me to see & grasp the opportunities that You want me to! Thank you for my mom coming to help me and for my dad giving her up for a day or two. Please help me to do the same for my own children one day when they need me. Thank you for Gracie & Katie & Chris! Thank you for Jesus!

In Jesus' Name, Amen

Hallelujah!

Thanks for all the well wishes after my last couple of posts. It's late and I'm tired, but I just wanted to write a couple of things.

*Continued to feel bad through Sunday & Monday. Was waiting as long as I could before swallowing and then gripping something tight when I absolutely had to swallow. It hurt that bad!

*My throat was seriously so swollen, I was contemplating whether or not I had the mumps!

*Went to new doctor Monday. Didn't repeat strep test but got antibiotic since I was so swollen & throat looked so bad. Hallelujah!

*Still not 100%; still feeling a little "sting" in my throat from time to time but 95% better than I was before I got the antibiotic. Hallelujah!

*Mom is here to help with cleaning, cooking & 2 year old entertaining! Hallelujah!

Will write more later.

Pity party time again

How in the world can a gland be so swollen and how in the world can it hurt so bad to swallow and the strep test come back negative?

I want to feel better.

Mother Goose on the Loose!

Today I am sick. I'm not sure what the problem is but my throat is incredibly swollen, my head has been feeling like a ton of bricks is sitting on it and my body has been very achy. I "officially" got sick once this morning. For alot of the day, I laid in bed moaning and moving my legs back & forth in an effort to get comfortable. I am feeling a little better now although not very. The headache & body aches are better but I've now been running fever and I think I've taken my alotted number of Motrin for the day. *sigh* Chris & the girls are out at Burger King with Gracie's school friend Hunter and his parents. We'd been planning to get together tonight for a week. They were supposed to come to our house, but we changed those plans this morning. How's that for a pity party, huh?
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Gracie's class had a Nursery Rhyme Celebration this morning. I love these special types of activities at school and I'd known about this day since the first of school, so I drug myself out of bed to go thinking that I'd feel better getting out of bed anyway. I did okay, but by the end I was in misery and barely made it home before "officially" being sick. Miss S said, "Gracie said you weren't feeling well and that just Daddy was going to come." I agreed that I didn't feel well but couldn't hardly keep myself away.

It was a really neat time, despite being sick. Miss S, one of the other K teachers and the librarian had applied for and received a $6000 grant this year and used the money to incorporate nursery rhymes throughout the year. At the beginning of the year, the children had performed some nursery rhymes for us and the teachers had explained what they would do throughout the year.

Today, they had culminating activities to go along with some of the nursery rhymes. They had 4th & 5th grade students lead small groups (Gracie's group had 4) around to the different activities while the parents & teachers mingled and were available to help as needed.

They had planting seeds to go along with "Mary, Mary Quite Contrary," water play for "It's Raining, It's Pouring," more water play & predicting whether an object would sink or float for "Jack & Jill," they made peanut butter cracker spiders for "Little Miss Muffet," a visitor from the SPCA was there with a cat for "Three Little Kittens," there was an egg relay race for "Humpty Dumpty," and they sorted paper hearts for "Queen of Hearts." They also made pumpkins for "Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater" and had various other activities.

The 5th grade boy assigned to Gracie's group was such a great helper! He was so polite, saying "yes maam" and "yes sir" when adults would ask him something and he made sure his little charges stayed on task and they listened to him very well. I was very impressed with him and readily understood why he had been chosen as one of the helpers for this activity.

The newspaper guy was there taking pictures and interviewing. He took at least one picture of Gracie and then one of her & Chris talking then interviewed Chris. We'll have to get a paper tomorrow to see if we make it in! At the activity at the beginning of the year, they had interviewed me which was fun, so maybe Chris will get in this time!

Katie did well. She enjoyed playing in the water and stood looking at the older kids on the playground saying, "Sing, sing" (which means swing.) She wasn't granted permission to go play with the big kids, but she had fun anyway.

more pictures of my princesses

Here are some more pictures of the girls that we had taken last week. Now that I have the cd of all of them, I get to choose which ones I want to order prints of. Our friend gave me a print of each of them, but I would like some other sizes of some of them for us as well as for those older people who like to stick pictures around their houses....you know, grandparents! It will be difficult deciding which ones I like the best, but it will be a fun job also!
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Have you heard of this? I thought I had seen someone mention it before and was glad to see an actual link to it. Very cool!

walking hand in hand

Happy Easter to everyone! I hope all of you had a wonderful Easter filled with moments of remembering Jesus & His sacrifice.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We had a friend take some pictures in a local park, and he did a fantastic job! Scanning them makes them lose much of their quality, and he's giving me a cd with all of them soon, so I'm going to wait to post most of them. Here is one of my favorites, though.

continuing

Fashion & Following the Savior pt. 4 has been written at girltalk.

modesty this Spring

Spring is here. Time for mini-skirts, bikinis and halter tops! Whoa! Anyone who knows me is shaking their head to clear the cobwebs that must be in front of their eyes because they know that I do not wear those things. Don't think me toorighteous, though. I don't not wear those things simply from a modesty & purity viewpoint, but because I don't think they look good on me. However, regardless of whether or not they look good on me, I probably shouldn't wear those things.

I know it is a struggle sometimes to find appropriate clothing for my girls, even at age 2 & 5! I have been able to do it (thank you Ebay!), but there are many times we pass right on by displays because the clothing is "inappropriate" (Gracie's favorite word!) Gracie is pretty good at deciding what is appropriate or not. She will tell me that someone had on something too short because when they sat down, she could see their "unmentionables." (I don't want to type the word because I might get some weirdos looking at my blog!) Or she might look at something and deem it to be inappropriate for other reasons. We've been talking about the correct way to sit even in shorts that are long enough because they will ride up and gap while sitting. It's a hard thing when so many aren't teaching their children modesty, but Chris & I are determined to teach it to our girls early on. It helps that I have many friends with children who are of the same mindset.

Along these lines, I was browsing the girltalk blog today and saw that they have started a series on modesty now that Spring is here. I strongly urge all of you to read what they've written. Keep checking back too because I think they will be adding more posts on the subject over the next couple of days. I'd love to hear what you think.

1st post: Fashion & Following the Savior
2nd post: Fashion & Following the Savior pt 2
3rd post: Fashion & Following the Savior pt 3
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Gracie had a bit of a fever last night and early this morning. She was complaining of not feeling well and various things, so we kept her home and I took her to the doctor. Of course, her temperature was 98 and she was giggling and bouncing around by the time we saw him! (Way to go Motrin, huh?!?!) He tested her for strep & flu because of the some of the things she'd complained about, but negative on both fronts.

So, of course you know what he said, "Must be viral." aaaahhhh! I mean, don't get me wrong, I don't want her to have the flu, but give me a name for what's buggin' her just once, please!!!!!!!!! She is feeling great now and is about to go take a nap. We're coming up on 6 hours since the Motrin so I'm anxious to see what happens to the temperature at that point....will it come back or stay away? At 7:30 was when she really had a fever, at 9:00 it was just a little above normal and she usually runs a little high anyway. At 10:15 at the doctor, no fever. So, I'm hoping it stays away and she gets to go to school tomorrow. She was crying last night saying, "I don't want to be sick!!!" I said, "Why not?" She said, "Because I want to go to school!!!!!!!!!" Sweet girl. They typically go by the "24 hours no fever" thing so I figure if it stays away, we're close enough to that. Chris & I both teach on Wednesday nights, so it looks like one of us will need to find a sub for tonight.

Redeeming Love

I just finished reading Francine Rivers', Redeeming Love. Thank you to Betty for recommending it here. I think Elizabeth had written about it as well.

Wow! I have to admit I had a hard time getting into it and almost stopped reading. However, I was determined to finish and for some reason, this weekend I got very into it. It is amazing! It really made me think about how I try to show Christ to some people. Sometimes I have a hard time saying too much and thinking that I have to read them Acts 2:38 immediately. Reading about the life Angel had and knowing what she was thinking & feeling showed me that sometimes you just need to show Christ to others by your love & the way you live rather than preaching to them. Not to say that everyone doesn't need to hear the Word, but sometimes people aren't ready to hear it yet. I liked the way Rivers showed God talking to them. It was like He knew she wasn't ready but He wasn't giving up on her.

I'm not sure if this is making sense. I just know that we don't always know what another person is going through or has gone through and we must reserve judgment much of the time. Like Betty mentioned in her summary, God's unconditional love is amazing and we should try to pattern that in the way we love others.
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I had Katie's hair cut yesterday. She has big girl bangs! It's still wild & crazy much of the time, but I've tried to resign myself that for the time being that's just who she is....a little wild & crazy! At least now when her bow falls out, which it does often, her hair doesn't hang in her face and that is a big improvement! We're having some pictures of the girls taken Friday in a pretty park, a
nd I'm hoping her hair cooperates for those!

Spring Break is over!

Whew! Spring Break is over. Maybe now I can rest! LOL I didn't post Saturday or Sunday. We did some normal weekend type things. Gracie went back to school this morning and seemed to be happy doing so. We're so blessed that she likes school!
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I'm taking Katie to get her hair cut this morning. It has been driving me crazy so I think we're going to get quite a bit of it cut. I hope I don't regret it!
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I'm adding a couple of links today. These are some blogs I find myself reading often, so I thought I may as well add them to my links list.

Erica is a mom of 2 girls from Texas. I'm pretty sure we were at ACU at the same time.

k_hall is someone who commented to me last week. Apparently, her uncle was Mark Hale who I've mentioned here & here. I feel connected to her and look forward to reading her blog and keeping up with the progress of her pregnancy.
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Anyone have any suggestions for me? We're going Friday with a group of children from church to deliver "Easter greetings" to the residents of an elderly home. Not a nursing home. (Where we were meeting for church before our new building was finished.) For Christmas, we tied a little note around a candy cane. For Valentine's Day, we filled a little treat bag with some candy and tied a note to it. What can we do for Easter that's different? I don't think it has to be candy. I'd like something rather inexpensive also because there are about 40-50 residents. Any ideas?
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How in the world do you play hangman by yourself.........and lose? I don't know; ask my 5 year old. She did it!
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Spring Break:day 7

Spring Break is nearing its end. We told Gracie it's soon back to the real world! I know she's enjoyed doing so many special things and enjoyed the break from school, but I'm sure she'll be excited to get back to school as well!

She & "L" played awhile this morning then after "L" left, we jumped in the van for a trip to a nearby town to do a surprise something special. Gracie kept trying to guess what it was but never did guess the right thing. On the way, we ate at Fuddrucker's...YUM! We don't have one in our town, so we like to go when we're near one. After that, we went to do the surprise and welcomed a new member of our family.........Chloe. That's right. We adopted Chloe the puppy at Build-A-Bear Workshop. Gracie has always loved going into that store and looking and practically drooling at the prospect of building one. We've never done it, so we decided that this week was a good week for it. She had lots of fun~as did we! Katie was so good, too! Chris had said she had to have one too so she wouldn't feel left out. I kept saying that she was only 2 and really wouldn't know that she was being left out. He felt bad and said that we'd have to buy her something at a different store. (Can you tell which one of us is going to be more of the pushover....or already is! LOL) When we got there, she was so good and didn't even realize that "Sissy" was getting something really special while she wasn't, so all was okay!

We walked around the mall and picked up a few baby gifts and some sandals for the girls. We headed back home. Chris went to the gym, Katie slept, Gracie colored on the box Chloe came in, I piddled around online. We spent some time outside and had a picnic supper in the backyard. The weather has been so nice. If only, if only, if only it could stay this way. I know this summer it won't be so nice even in the evenings, so I'm hoping we enjoy it while we can.

Chris is preparing for Sunday. He will be speaking Sunday night at church. The girls are tucked in bed and I am, once again, piddling around online! Surprise, surprise! Chris was teasing Gracie that he wanted to sleep with Chloe. She kept telling him that she was only for kids, but he insisted that he could have one. She said, "Okay. Maybe I'll get you one for Father's Day!" This will be just the excuse she'll need to beg me to let her make another one! Trust me, I won't fall for it!

Dear Lord,
Thank you for our sweet girls. Thank you for Gracie's sweet spirit and for this time we've had together this week, also for all the times she said "thank you" this week. Thank you for Katie's energy and sweetness. She can be a handful at times but when she comes to say goodnight and clasps her little hands together and says, "Pay,"~because she can't quite say "pray" right yet~and then bows her head & closes her eyes and starts saying her prayer.....all is right with the world. Tonight she even added all 4 of the grandparents without even being prompted and then added Jesus near the end. Thank you Lord for children! Thank you Lord for the time we get to spend together as a family. It's fun to do things like the zoo and the movies, but it tends to warm my heart just as much if not more to simply sit in the backyard together. Thank you for Chris who shares my love for our children and puts us as a top priority, 2nd only to You. Please help us to parent the way You want us to!
In Jesus' Name,
Amen

Spring Break:day 6

Another good title for this post might be: How much drama can a 5 & 6 year old little girl sleepover contain?

More on that later....

We went to a birthday party this morning at the neatest playground I have ever seen! It had cute little playhouses~the real nice wooden kind and a great wooden train that Katie spent loads of time on. It had lots of shade and a nice pavilion with a restroom and swings and slides. It was clean and safe and just really great. It's about 30-45 minutes away from here, but I plan to take Chris back some weekend.

When we left the party, Gracie fell asleep on the way home. Katie did but not until we were pretty close to home, so instead of picking up Gracie's friend, "L," we went home for a little while to let Katie sleep some more. Thankfully, she did go back to sleep in her bed once we were home. After she finished her nap, we went to pick up "L." She & Gracie had fun decorating her room with leftover streamers from Katie's birthday party. When Chris got home, he took all 3 of the girls outside while I worked on dinner. He even got some yard work done while they played. After we ate dinner (make your own tacos by order of Gracie) we cleaned up then went to Marble Slab Creamery for dessert.

We came home and Katie got a bath then Gracie and "L" got to take a bath together. They had a blast! Then came the drama......

Earlier in the evening, "L" had said something to Gracie about them being roommates in college. I thought that was sweet and honestly, it was a little bittersweet. It was bittersweet because I was thinking in my head that the likelihood of that actually happening is pretty slim. Not because they're not good friends, but just because even in my sheltered little world, I know that things change, people move away, friends get in fights, friends go to different colleges, etc. But it was still a very sweet idea.

Well, after their bath the girls were playing. It had gotten kind of quiet so I went to check on them to see what they were doing. I noticed that Gracie had tears in her eyes and looked very sad & upset. I asked her what was wrong and it was obvious that she was going to really start crying. When I asked why she was crying, "L" said, "I don't know." Honestly, I thought they'd gotten in a fight. I gathered Gracie into my arms and she was crying so hard I couldn't understand what she was saying. Gracie had assured me that "L" hadn't said anything mean to her or hurt her feelings. I asked "L" about it and she tried to explain it to me.

Basically what happened is that "L" had given Gracie a little present. It was a small piece of styrofoam that she had colored on and glued pieces of paper onto. She had given it to Gracie in case they didn't get to be college roommates....in case she moved away or something. I guess kind of like "something to remember me by." Apparently, this thought broke Gracie's heart! She was sobbing and sobbing! I noticed that while I was comforting Gracie, "L" had left the room. When I finally figured out the whole story, I called "L" back into the room. I talked about how they were best buddies now and not to worry about college right now. Well, I noticed that "L" had tears in her eyes, too at this point.

I told Chris what had happened and he went to talk to Gracie too. She was still crying a little. I went into the other room and could still hear Gracie sniffling some. Before I knew it, Gracie came into the room really crying again and said that "L" wanted her mommy. Now, "L" is sobbing & sobbing! She wanted her mommy but didn't want to go home, just wanted her mommy!

I called Cindy (a.k.a. "L's" mommy) and we talked for a minute and then she talked to "L" for a minute. She talked to me again and we decided to give it about 20 more minutes and see if it got better. I don't think either of us really wanted to call it quits on the sleepover and she didn't really want to come over just to give "L" a pep talk for fear that it would set a precedent for future sleepovers. Cindy also thought it might have something to do with one of their little friends who is moving to American Samoa. (I have blogged about that family this past week.) Their little friend's dad spoke at church about it last night and she thought this might be bothering "L." I haven't told Gracie about her friend moving and I don't think she picked up on anything at church last night. They already live about an hour away and attend a different church, and I just think she doesn't really know what's going on. This situation could very well be on "L's" mind and heart and she may be afraid of she & Gracie being separated, too!

Chris & I both talked to them and I tried to be silly. We talked about them watching a video. Chris went outside and I didn't know what he was doing. In a minute he came back with the DVD system that goes in the car. He had both screens and said he would set it up inside the princess tent! WOW! What an idea and what a daddy! He got it all set up and "L" chose "The Tigger movie" and now they've been in there for over an hour...watching, eating & talking. Here is a picture of the sign "L" made for the outside of the tent.

Chris said, "How can they be this dramatic at 5 & 6 years old?" I said, "I don't know but it's only beginning!"

Oh, the drama of little girls. It breaks my heart & warms it at the same time that Gracie's heart was so broken over thinking that they might not be college roommates. I hated seeing "L" so upset, too! It's like they were bouncing off of each other. One would cry, the other would cry, one would cry harder, the other would cry harder!

Dear Lord,
Please be with these sweet girls and help their friendship to continue as long as you want it to! Help them to be encouragers for each other through this life and help them to keep each other strong for YOU!
In Jesus' Name,
Amen

Spring Break:day 5

Today wasn't exactly special in the sense that we didn't leave the house to go anywhere or do anything fun. However, I did organize quite a bit and that is pretty special in and of itself! I pretty much got the girls' closets & drawers stocked with their Spring/Summer clothes and took their Fall/Winter things out to the shed. I left a few things in because I'm sure there will still be some cool days.

I rearranged Katie's room. Since she just got into her big girl bed, I'm not sure how I want the room to be arranged. So far, I think I like it better this way than the way I had it before. It's not a big room so I have to be a little creative. I'm planning to paint the room green soon~well, I plan to have Chris paint the room green soon! My mom did find a real big girl bed that she will paint~and she got a fantastic deal! I can't wait to get it! Right now, she's just on a roll away bed and it works just fine. It's fun to have a big girl room to decorate and I'm sure I'll change my mind a million times before it's really "done." (Will it ever really be done? LOL)

Gracie is the type of child who can sit quietly and read or color or draw for long periods of time, so she did fine with me working around the house. She was able to entertain herself most of the day.

I also cleaned up around the house and did a ton of laundry! Tonight was church. Chris taped "Amazing Race," so I think we'll watch that soon. We got home just in time to see Mandisa singing so we assume she got kicked off "American Idol." That's too bad; I liked her. Tomorrow we have a birthday party to go to and then Gracie's friend, L, is coming to spend the night. It will be a busy but fun day!

My friend Kristi had her baby today. Welcome to the world, baby Kaitlyn!

Spring Break:day 4

Today was the zoo and I am worn out! Plus, I got sunburn and for a very fair redhead like myself, that can be bad. Alot of times when I get sunburn I will feel sick later that night with chills. I don't have chills and don't think it's bad enough to go that far, but I definitely have that "sunburn icky" feeling. *sigh* When we were at the playground part of the zoo, I knew it was going to happen because I was sitting in direct, extremely bright sunlight.

When we left the zoo, I called a friend who lives in that town, actually the friend who I wrote about last week is going to live in American Samoa for awhile. I thought we'd chat while I drove. Well, I don't know what happened, but all of a sudden I started seeing things that I didn't think I should be seeing and then started seeing things that were very unfamiliar. I was too embarrassed to admit to my friend that I was indeed lost, or at least quickly becoming so, so I turned around and started heading back the way I came. I figured I'd eventually find a sign pointing me towards the town I needed to go towards. I did quickly find the needed sign but then proceeded to miss the exit. I finally told her that I had missed my exit (leaving out the part where I'd been really lost moments before) and hung up. We made it home in one piece and Gracie got another good laugh at my sense of direction!

After Daddy came home, we went to Sonic and used Gracie's free coupon for a Kid's Meal that she got for having perfect attendance the 3rd 9 weeks of school. Who knew such things as perfect attendance even existed?!?! She was absent so often near the beginning of the year for being sick that this is the first time she's earned such a reward. Yea!

We then went to Wal Mart to pick up some necessities and headed home for the evening. I think I'm going to bed early tonight! I'm so sad that one of our favorite shows that used to come on at 10 on Tuesdays, Amazing Race, has moved to Wednesdays at 8! With us having church at 7:30 on Wednesdays, we won't be watching it anymore unless we tape it.

I'm not sure what excitement, if any, tomorrow will hold. Thursday is a big day with a birthdayp party and a sleepover, so tomorrow may be a quiet one. We'll see.....

Spring Break:day 3

We had a fun day today. I stayed up pretty late last night and cleaned up some so I wouldn't start the day with a house that was too messy. I knew if I did that, the day would get off to a yucky start. We ended up allowing Gracie to stay up as late as she wanted to last night~which never happens~and she stayed up until just before midnight! Even so, she was up before Chris left for work this morning bright eyed & bushy tailed. Of course, after she ate some breakfast, she ended up crawling in bed with me and slept some more~and took a good nap this afternoon, too!

Around noon, we went to the park for a picnic with some friends and had alot of fun. We have a park in town with the typical playground then we also have a park with no playground but ponds with ducks and beautiful trees & flowers. Gracie chose the latter park for today's picnic and the kids had a blast. It was a little challenge keeping Katie away from the water's edge, but we survived.

Although the weather was really nice, we ended up getting quite hot so we picked up a couple of drinks at Sonic and headed home to cool down. Katie, as luck would have it, ended up falling asleep in the van while we were waiting for our drinks and then proceeded to take forever to fall asleep again once we were home. I will give her credit though that she didn't fuss one time, she just kind of layed there in her bed playing. She got up once or twice but for the most part just layed there. She finally fell asleep which is a good thing because so did Gracie, and so did I!

The azaleas in our yard are blooming so it was time to try and get our annual azalea pictures with the girls. Katie is so uncooperative when it comes to posing for snapshot pictures, but we tried! A big wind came up while we were out there and Katie did enjoy that!

We had dinner plans with a family whose son is in class with Gracie. We enjoyed that and then went over to their house to visit and let Chris watch at least part of the Final Four game with Brett, the dad of Gracie's friend. (He has a bigger television than we do...you know how guys are! LOL) When Katie got to the point where she was kind of walking around in a daze and twirling her hair more than usual, we figured it was time to come home and put them to bed. After all, tomorrow is the zoo!

Spring Break:day 2

Day 2 of Gracie's Spring Break didn't really bring anything too extraordinary. It was pretty much like any Sunday. Church in the morning and Life Group tonight. Neither of the girls took a nap this afternoon, but that didn't stop me from taking one! I do not for the life of me understand why they weren't tired; I could barely keep my eyes open! There's just something about Sunday afternoon naps.........

Our Life Group this year is definitely my favorite one so far! This is the 3rd year we've done them and there's just something about this one that has "clicked" more than the past years. That's not to take anything away from anyone in past groups at all. The family who is hosting Life Group for March & April have a fantastic backyard with swing set, trampoline (with the safety net around it), electric Barbie car, nice screened in porch, deck, etc. Tonight was perfect weather and with it staying lighter longer it really made for a nice night. Of course, the inside of the house offered entertainment as well with a great playroom and some educational video games. It was just a really nice night. Our Life Group had people sign up for hosting so no one family is responsible for hosting each week of the year. We signed up for 1-2 months at a time. It's been really nice to share the load of having everyone at your house.

Tomorrow we have a picnic planned at a local park that has ducks-a-plenty to feed and is a great place to take pictures, so I'm sure I'll be posting some! Tuesday, is the zoo...........Gracie is staying up late tonight since she doesn't have school. Chris told her, "Savor the flavor!" meaning to enjoy it while it lasts. (He is such a dork sometimes, but I love him that way!)
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I forgot to mention my friend Leslie. I'd appreciate any prayers you could offer her way. She is 32, married with 2 little girls. I believe L will turn 2 soon and M is 3. When she was 8 months pregnant with L, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She has had a double mastectomy and a complete hysterectomy. During some recent tests, they discovered a spot on her lung. She is understandably very worried and scared. She does not go back until May for a re-check. Her doctors don't seem to be alarmed but of course, a recurrence of cancer is on her mind....and ours as well. This lady is so sweet and always smiling, so to see her cry when telling us this last week was hard. She joined our playgroup after meeting some of my friends at the park one day. She has quickly become part of our little group. Please say a prayer for her peace as she waits to have her next round of tests and then for the results and please pray that the cancer has not returned.
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Gracie's sweet story of the day: Her teachers this morning had her class make cards for some of the people at church. One of the ladies they made them for is named Suzanne Messick. This lady is struggling with cancer~again~and is such a true example of being positive in the face of trials. Well, I guess in class they must have referred to her as "Miss Messick." When they gave the cards to her, I guess they were calling her "Miss Suzanne." (We do live in the South so most people~regardless of how old they are~are called "Miss (first name)" or "Mr. (first name)".) We were walking off from her and Gracie looked up at me with a slightly confused & worried look on her face and said, "But they were for Miss Messick." I had to assure her that she had given the card to the right person!
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I'm off to do some cleaning.

Spring Break:day 1

Today is the first official day of Gracie's Spring Break!

After a morning of letting me sleep in (yea!) and Gracie going with me to mail a few things I'd sold on Ebay, we all decided to go see "The Shaggy Dog." It was cute. Katie wasn't into sitting still and watching it the whole time, so the 2 of us spent some time sitting in the back of the theater. She also decided to pitch quite the fit when we were leaving....and when we were driving home....and when we got home......*whew* It was a doozy! I know Chris & I will be firm and we will get through this time with her (with God's help), but it is such a challenge at times! I escaped for a little bit this afternoon and ran some errands. Sometimes I just need a little breather. I came home with some hanging flower baskets for the porch & front yard. When she saw us outside, Katie wanted to come out too and then Gracie wanted to come out. It was really nice weather to be out.


Gracie's funny thing to say today: We saw some neat jewelry at the store where we mailed our packages this morning. I mentioned that I bet Miss S would like those then we started talking about how she had her toenails painted yesterday. Now, not everyone could pull off painting your toenails different colors, but it works well for her. She has a very unique style, but it's a good one. It suits her. Anyway, Gracie said, "Sometimes, she like wears a necklace on her ankle." I laughed and proceeded to explain what an anklet was. Needless to say, Miss S & I do not share the same sense of style or Gracie would have already known what an anklet was! I long for more fashion sense. My poor girls certainly haven't been born with much either.

Embarrassing thing about myself to admit: Chris mentioned that we could have gone to see "Ice Age 2." I reminded him that we, or I anyway, didn't like this first one. I don't guess the girls have seen it; I'm not even sure. I reminded him that I didn't like the first one because it was in Spanish! He started laughing as he remembered that story. On an airplane trip, "Ice Age" was the movie playing. We paid our money to get the headsets and settled in to watch. I was surprised that I couldn't understand what they were saying but just figured that the first little bit of it was in another language. After awhile, I started really thinking that was weird. Chris seemed to be enjoying it. Then, I realized that I had my channel selector tuned to the Spanish selection. Chris was enjoying it more because he was actually listening to it in English! *sigh* By that point, my interest was lost.

I just found out that some friends of ours~with their 3 children~are leaving soon to live in American Samoa for 2-3 years to do mission work and he will also work as an attorney as he is doing here now. They will be in my prayers. I just really admire this family and have even before now.

Yesterday at Gracie's party, I met the mother of one of her classmates. I found out that she has cancer and apparently is leaving soon for Atlanta to go through treatments. I told her that she would be in our prayers. I didn't even get her name. I know I can get it and I know the little girl's name. I know this will be hard on them.