First Day Pictures!

Here are some pictures of the kids from the first day of school! They are all doing great and enjoying the year so far. The biggest surprise has been how well Pike is adjusting to middle school. He absolutely loves it...it's "awesome"...and I've been amazed at the dramatic signs of maturity in just 3 days. We are very proud of him!






OK - now that makes me laugh! I just finish talking about Pike acting more mature and the only picture I have of him by himself is where he is climbing up the basketball pole! He is one of a kind...and we are still proud of him!

First Day...

Today was the First Day that I wrote "I Love You" notes to my 3 kids and secretly put them in lunchboxes and backpacks to be found later in the day.

Today was the First Day that Emma joyfully skipped down the hall on her way to kindergarten, pulling me along, singing "I am so excited! I am so excited!"

Today was the First Day that I watched her find her nametag, hang up her backpack and find her seat. I watched as she sat down for the first time and realized what an amazing journey she had just begun.

Today was the First Day that Grace didn't want me to walk her to class, but she looked back, smiled and waved quietly as she turned down her hallway.

Today was the First Day that I watched Pike slowly get swallowed by (what seemed like) much bigger kids as he walked into middle school, and an unknown world, for the first time.

Today was the First Day that I tried really hard not to cry as I walked out of the school, then saw some sweet friends who asked me how I was doing, and I let the tears softly fall as I got some much-needed hugs.

Today was the First Day that I drove to the grocery store and shopped alone - not because I got to, but because I had to.

Wasn't it just yesterday that I couldn't wait until Emma could sit up by herself, so I wouldn't have to lug that heavy baby carrier into the store while trying to hold the hands of her 5-year-old brother and 3-year-old sister?

Wasn't it just yesterday that I wished I could run errands by myself without having to buckle and unbuckle five-point harnesses at every stop?

Wasn't it just yesterday that I wanted a quick errand to really be quick and not include instructions on how to behave?

Wasn't it just yesterday that I longed for a quiet house so I could get everything done in peace?

Today was the First Day that I prayed for God to take care of them while they are away from me...to protect their precious hearts...to give them courage to make wise choices...and to come home full of joy and ready to be with a mom who has a plate of fresh-baked brownies!

All About Emma

It's time for an Emma update...

Most of you know that Emma gave herself a haircut last October. She had her hair in 2 ponytails and tried to take them out to put on a crown. When they got tangled and started to hurt, she got out the scissors and cut them off! (I found them in the trash can still bound in the rubber band!) She sported a mullet for a long time and we usually had between 4-6 clips in her hair to keep down all the layers.

Well...last week we finally got the haircut we've been waiting for for almost a year! The sides were finally long enough to get a cute bob!! It looks great and she loves it!!

Here are some pictures of our adventure...

This was taken in September right before The Haircut.



The night of The Cut...before I took her in to get it as fixed as possible.


After going to get it 'fixed'. She had this mullet look for a long time!

Her new look!!! We made it...just in time for kindergarten!!

Emma is also the one of my 3 who always makes me laugh at the way she gets words mixed up. My other two grasped the English language at a very early age. I absolutely love the way Emma gets things confused, even though she doesn't do it as much as she used to.

An early example...When Emma was 2 and her friend Macy (who had a new baby brother named Jack) was 3, we were headed to the car. Macy was putting on her new coat and this is the conversation that followed:

"Emma, Did you see my new jacket?"

"I know you have a new baby Jack."

"No, Emma. I got a new jacket."

"Macy, I know you have a new baby Jack."

Then sweet Macy looked at me, smiled and just shrugged her shoulders, as if to say, "That's just Emma!".

Well, that Emma gave me a chuckle today when she was singing a new song she learned last week at VBS. Along with a very serious face and hand motions, this is what I heard...

"Get up, Get up...and tell the world.

Get up, Get up...some people haven't heard.

Jesus paid the price

So we could have eternal lice..."

I love that girl!!!

That didn't last long...

In my first post, I talked about my blog not being very cute. Well, thanks to a link on a friend's blog, I've jazzed mine up just a little bit. It was very easy...and free! What do you think?