The Note

To say that today has been very trying as a parent is definitely an understatement!! Both Caitlin and Harrison are going through this "I don't have to listen to you" phase. While they are normally such well-behaved children (especially at church and school), they are acting out at home. I really hope that it is just being overly tired due to our hectic beginning-of-school time.
The latest installment occurred this evening. Caitlin and Harrison were playing shopping so nicely together. They then decided that Harrison's play tent would be the new store. Both of them wanted to go in and "shop", but it is not nearly big enough for both of them. Imagine the arguing..... I asked, asked again, and then TOLD them, "STOP ARGUING OVER THE TENT!!!" I'll spare you the details, but in the end the tent was overturned and broken, and Harrison had a bloody lip! I sent Caitlin to her room because I was really afraid of yelling at her right at that moment, and I tended to Harrison's bloody lip in the bathroom. He and I had a little discussion about minding Mommy and things like this wouldn't happen. Well when I walked out of the bathroom, this is what I found on Caitlin's door....

To translate: Mommy I do not like you any more so leave me alone and do NOT come in.
P.S. I'm sorry.
P.S. Harrison can't come in too.
I chuckled softly under my breath, and then knocked. She did let me in, and we had a great discussion about minding Mommy (deja-vu). I asked her about the note, and she said she was so mad that she misspelled a lot of the words. I had to laugh!!!

Your Heart's Desire

I was blessed beyond measure to be able to attend this exciting event last night and this morning:

I absolutely LOVE Beth Moore!! She is such a Godly woman who has a tremendous talent for teaching God's word. I am amazed every time I hear her speak live or on a video at Bible Study. I went with a good friend from work, Susan, who made the time even better. I also got a BIG surprise as we were walking into the event on Friday evening--I got to meet one of my blogger friends, Jennifer! I knew she was going to be attending the event, but I had no utter clue that I would run into her with there being hundreds of women there! It was such an uplifting time spent studying God's word, and I am very, very thankful that I had the privilege of going.

Happy Birthday Daniel!

We celebrated my nephew, Daniel's, 9th birthday this weekend. He is just 2 months younger than Caitlin. My sister and I were pregnant at the same time which was very special. Except for when I was in labor, and my brother-in-law, Scott, was the only one in the room during the hard, hard contractions! But that's a whole other story for another time.

All the cousins together

Daniel's birthday cookie--doesn't he look so excited?!?

Two Bits, Four Bits

Caitlin attended the Bob Jones High School Cheer Clinic on Saturday morning. She was soooooo excited to go! She couldn't wait to learn cheers from the National Champions. And they did not disappoint.
She learned several new cheers.

Here she is with her favorite cheerleader, Regan. I don't know what's up with the headless man behind them!

Her good friend, Annie, was there also.

Isn't she a natural?

Waitin' on the Train

Caitlin and Harrison had their pictures made last week in downtown Madison. I am so in love with these pictures!!! I just can't believe how well they turned out or how beautiful the photographer made my children look. There are so many to pick from, but here are a few of my favorites.
Awww...we missed the train!

Bye Train!

We're leaving this joint!

How am I going to pick?!?

Fun Run

Harrison participated in his school's Boosterthon Fun Run this morning. He had such a good time and ended up running 29 laps. (They were only 1/16 mile long!) Boosterthon Fun Run is a Christian-based school fund-raiser. A team of VERY energetic guys and girls come to the school and teach character lessons to the kids. The kids collect pledges towards the number of laps they will run on the day of the Fun Run. With each dollar amount raised, the kids earn different prizes. Harrison had some very generous family members who graciously contributed to him, and he was able to get some very sweet prizes! Here he is on the "Pace Car" lap of the Fun Run.

His friend, Abbie, is right before him, and his friend, Casey, is right behind him. Oh, and did I mention that each child receives a t-shirt just for participating in the Fun Run?

Here he is getting his t-shirt marked by his teacher, Mrs. Spears, for another lap that he had run.

They do really cool laps, like this one--the Cotton-Eyed Joe lap.
Unfortunately they had to move the Fun Run inside today because of the threat of rain; usually it is held outside. But the kids didn't care--they had so much fun running laps to the cool music!

A Riddle

What do this....

this....

and this....

have in common?!? Why, what else, but Caitlin's first week of dance this year! She has moved up a level and is now in the competition stage. She is enrolled in 3 classes which meet 2 days a week. On Mondays she takes an hour of jazz and an hour of tap. On Tuesdays she takes an hour of ballet. She was so excited to go to class on Monday afternoon. Luckily she is in class with most of the same girls she has been taking classes with for the past few years. It was so sweet to see them run to each other and give each other great big hugs! I know she will be learning even more this year in dance from Ms. Barbara Ellen, Ms. Melony, and Ms. Melissa. I am so very proud of my little dancer and cannot wait to see her routines!!

Fashion Show

Caitlin and Harrison went scrounging around in Mommy and Daddy's closet and decided to show off these new fashions!

Future hip-hop artists, maybe?

Love ya!

Or maybe rappers?

Final one--Ta-daaaaaa!!!

Harrison's First Day of School!

My baby boy started Pre-Kindergarten today! He has not seemed excited AT ALL to go to big school until this morning. He was up at 5:00 am asking, "Is it time to go to school?" We took pictures before leaving the house....

No tears yet (from Mommy)!

Daddy and his big boy!

Ready to walk in the door with a huge smile on his face! Can you tell he's excited?

Walking into his classroom carrying a basket of goodies for the teacher :)

And then the tears started..for Mommy!

"Bye, Mom!"

That's all I got!!! No kiss goodbye, no last hug, no "I love you." I know I should (and I am) be very thankful that he was so confident and excited and did not cling to my leg crying, but it was still so hard walking away and leaving him in that big classroom. The good news...I am right down the hall! And yes, I called his teacher once today to check on him, and I got to peek in on him during lunch. Oh yeah...I got to eat snack with him too! So I really shouldn't complain!

Caitlin's First Day of School!!

Caitlin, my beautiful baby girl, started 4th grade on Monday! I just can't believe it!! She was ready to go, though, with her new dress (she has worn one on every first day of school since she was two years old) and new backpack and lunch box.

Her daddy and I got a little teary-eyed just thinking about how fast these last 9 years have gone by.

At least she's still not too old for hugs from her mom and dad!

The pictures had to stop at home because she is too old and too cool for us to take pictures at school. I guess I should just be thankful for these pictures!

She came home Monday chattering about her new teacher, Mrs. Curry, and how much fun 4th grade is going to be. She also had to fill us in about her fellow classmates: who talked too much, who got glasses over the summer, and who made the entire class laugh with their silly answers! I am so thankful that she loves to share that kind of info with us, and I hope it continues well into middle and high school.

All in all, I would say she had a wonderful first day of 4th grade!

Happily Ever After

Once upon a time a young nineteen-year-old girl met a handsome prince. While not looking for love AT ALL, he swept her off her feet, and they fell madly in love. However she lived far, far away (really 2 hours) at a neighboring university. Determined not to lose the love of his life, the prince did everything in his power to get her to transfer schools. And it worked!! Soon the girl was living just up the road from the prince and attending the exact same university. Their love grew stronger and stronger until one night he fell upon one knee and asked the lovely girl to be his wife. She, of course, jumped up and screamed,"YES, YES, YES!!" Then she and her mother planned the perfect fairy tale wedding that she had been dreaming of since she was a little girl.
The prince and princess

The princess had the most beautiful gown in the land!

The wedding party

Joe, Kim, Marcus, Christy, Laci the cousin, Dana the sister, Brother Dave, the fairy tale couple, the King (the Prince's dad), Michelle, Trent, Kristy, Toby, Kim, Charlton

A kiss to last forever

And they rode off into the sunset happily ever after!

Happy 15th wedding anniversary, Randy! I love you!

School Shoes

School starts next week for both my children. Caitlin will be in the 4th grade, and Harrison will be starting Pre-school. So.....we went school clothes shopping last week and bought both Harrison and Caitlin new school shoes. Can you tell who loves their new shoes?!?

Holy, Holy, Holy

Caitlin had the distinct honor of serving as an acolyte this morning at church for the very first time!!
She practiced at the church yesterday and did great, but she was very nervous this morning as she looked in the sanctuary and saw ALL those people! I have never been as proud of her as I was this morning. She definitely has a heart for service, and I am so thankful that she chooses to use her God-given gift so wisely. Yes, there were some happy tears shed as she walked down the aisle in her "angel outfit" (that was what she called it). And, of course, the grandparents couldn't miss out on this very special occasion, so she had her own cheering section sitting on the first 3 pews!