the best kind of pit-stop

meeting baby Caleb for the FIRST time!!!

isn't that the sweetest little face

Addison was excited to play with Callie again...she was walking this time so she could keep up a little better!


Harrison really enjoyed holding baby Caleb between games with his buddy Josiah


isn't he precious!!! and so contented! such a good baby boy!

Tutu - Katy's mom - was there and it was so fun to be able to spend some time getting to know her a little better. We've really only had the opportunity to say a quick hello in the past so this was a treat for me! I'm SO glad she was able to come and spend some time with the kids and meet little Caleb. i know Katy sure appreciated having her around!

there he is, holding Caleb again. :)

had to make it over to the pool!

Anthony had a business lunch in South Columbia and had taken the suitcases with him. the boys just wore their shorts to swim and Addison borrowed a swimsuit from Callie




Anthony quickly let me know that while holding Caleb was a lot of fun it didn't make him want to have another little one join our family. :)

the next morning, we all insisted that Katy sleep in a little bit. after Callie got dressed i asked her if it would be OK for me to do her hair. i LOVE playing with and styling little girl's hair! :) she was so sweet and agreed. here she is showing off her hair do. after we were done she said "no touch." :) so cute! love this little girl! and i can't wait for Addison to get some more hair!



Oh how we enjoyed being able to stop in on the Schrodt's again! I felt sort of bad when I asked Katy if we could put it on the calendar a month before Caleb arrived but she insisted that we could "pop" in. We tried to not be a burden and made sure we took care of dinner. I love, love, love holding these babies when they are little and knowing that we would practically be driving by their house on our way to Hilton Head...I just could not pass that up!

It was wonderful holding that precious baby boy and loving on him for about 24 hours. That's pretty much how long we stayed. We got there around 10:30am on Thursday and left at 12:00pm on Friday for our vacation. It was perfect! The boys just picked up where they left off which I love and Addison and Callie were a little bit more like playmates this time because Addison is walking and "playing" more. Anthony was able to get a little work in while David was at work and Karen, Katy & I just got to chat and enjoy that sweet baby boy! After dinner and all the kids were in bed, we were able to just sit and chat some more. Can you tell I loved every single minute of it? Time with my sweet friend and her precious baby boy...it was the best kind of pit-stop!

he's almost home!!!!

Anthony has been in San Diego, CA this week on a business trip.

he left Sunday morning at 4:30am while i was still struggling with my stomach bug. Needless to say, Sunday was a rough day. tough to be sick with 3 kids to take care of AND then it's really easy to get even more bummed when you know your whole worship team and church family is worshiping together in a "rare only happens twice a year risers event" and you keep seeing Facebook updates about how incredible the service is and how awesome the sermon is and there you sit...at home...sick...alone (well not really alone...3 kids who still need to be taken care of and don't really know how to appreciate the fact that their mother is VERY less than 100%).

OK. that's depressing. are you feeling sorry for me yet??? OK. let's stop talking about it! :)

the good news is that we have officially SURVIVED!!! survived our time without him and anticipating some time with him this morning before he has to go back to work after lunch. poor guy is SO exhausted. and we even survived starting a week of home school...an incredible change to our family's routine without having daddy here at night to let mommy take a nice bubble bath and soak my cares away.

seriously though. the homeschooling has actually kept the week fun and not been overwhelming as of yet. it's kept my mind busy and left me less time to wallow in my self pity of not having my man around!

the good news...the even better news...is that Anthony was supposed to leave AGAIN on Friday for Alabama...after we only had him for one day...but that trip has been CANCELED!!!! WOO HOO!!!!

he is almost home for good. he'll be landing in about 15 minutes! we can't wait.... can any one else testify that having daddy around...your man at home...is a GOOD THING!!!

New Life Summer Camp

doesn't he look thrilled to see me! ha!

Harrison and his good buddy Joe from church..they were in the same cabin together

showing us how he got up on his bunk! it was quite the production to hoist himself up there. there were no ladders to help!


one of his camp counselors...Mr. Tyler...hardly looks like a "Mr"...he looked SO young! :)

Cody and his family were visiting for the weekend so they got to go with us to pick Harrison up. he and Jackson really enjoyed having Harrison show them around camp!


cutie little Canon

Harrison was able to attend New Life Summer Day Camp for a week this year. We had heard SO many incredible things about it from people at church that it was for sure a no-brainer about whether or not we should sign him up! He was gone from 9-4 each day and he LOVED every minute of camp life! I think he would live outside in a tent if we would let him! :) He can't wait 'till he can go and spend the night. A couple more years before he qualifies for that! :)

He had two camp counselors...both named Tyler...and spent his day learning about Jesus, swimming in the lake, fishing for "Big Mama", making crafts, games, putt putt, jumping off the high dive and doing the slide, playing in the woods, sleeping (resting) in a cabin, and eating at the snack shack (BIG hit by the way...he couldn't believe he could pick WHATEVER he wanted!!!! he picked Reese's peanut butter cups every single time!). i know there is SO much more but that's all i could think of right now! he learned new songs about Jesus that he hasn't stopped singing yet!

What a wonderful opportunity for him and so nice that the camp is only 15 minutes from where we live! Jackson can't hardly wait to be able to go next year! That sweet boy is ready to join his brother on some of these fun adventures! :)

On Friday night, we all went as a family to the camp to see the children sing their songs and watch video of the fun they had that week. Afterward we were able to get the grand tour of the camp, see his cabin, and order snacks from the "snack shack"! One funny thing that happened the night of pick up...well it's funny now but wasn't then...was while I was talking to Stacia (our music minister's wife and friend of mine) her daughter Ellie came up to tell us that Harrison had used the bathroom over by some trees. GREAT! When we talked to Harrison he seemed to feel like his actions were appropriate because we were in the woods. Good grief! That poor girl...good thing she has two older brothers! She didn't seem phased by it at all and Stacia was very gracious. We dealt with Harrison and reminded him that relieving himself in the woods is for emergencies...which he INSISTED was the case...and that when bathrooms are available we need to choose to use them! Oh these boys...what am I going to do with them! :)

Deeper Still Conference 2009 - Greensboro, NC

I had the privilege of attending the Deeper Still Conference in Greensboro July 31 & August 1st. WOW!!! AMAZING!!! When I heard it was going to be so close, I knew I HAD to go! Beth Moore, Kay Arthur, and Priscilla Shirer AND Travis Cottrell...all under one roof...how could you pass that up??? I knew I would be finished nursing Addison and it was perfect timing for a getaway with some friends from church.

I cannot even begin to express what a blessing that weekend was. God taught me SO much. There are things I took away from that weekend that have forever changed the way I look at trials, peace, the power and ability of MY God, and a deeper understanding of WHY I need to be in His word. Yes, we all know we should be reading the Bible and studying His word but all that was shared over the weekend took all of that to a much deeper level. I'm so thankful for all that He showed me and I've already been able to apply and share so much of it with some of the loved ones in my life that have been struggling this year.

Isn't it amazing how God uses the sermons and teachings that you hear each week to speak to you RIGHT where you are...at that moment...specifically to your very need!!! It always seems to almost shock me. I don't know why! I should EXPECT He wants to speak and be ready for it but so often I am so pleasantly surprised and excited to be reminded once again of His love and care for ME...for my FAMILY...for my FRIENDS...and how He is there continuing to draw me closer to Him! I walked away with more love for my Lord and I'm hoping this year to see so much more of Him and to fall passionately in love with His word!

I have to give a shout out to Anthony for allowing me to go and watching ALL 3 kids ALL by himself for the weekend...so I could get away and be refreshed! I know sometimes I think "well, I watch all 3 of them all the time, what's the big deal?" But, really, it is a big deal! It is so different for him to be alone with them without me. He does it SO well and is such a wonderful hands-on daddy but when I asked him how it went he was quick to tell me how happy he is that he doesn't have to do it alone often. :) Sometimes it's nice when that happens...it makes you appreciate each other as a couple more and the roles that you BOTH play to make your little family a success! I love my husband!

First day of 2nd Grade - Homeschool!!!

Harrison - 7 years old

Jackson - 4 years old

am i blessed or what??? i get to spend EVERY day with these cuties! :)

TODAY was our FIRST day of home school! to say i haven't fretted, worried, or stressed about this day would be an understatement. i did, however, spend MUCH of the summer in denial. it's how i cope. when people would ask me if i was ready or planning or thinking about the upcoming home school adventure i would just say NO. i truly did try to keep from thinking about it. there would be times i would catch myself and then i would just have to STOP. i had all of my curriculum ordered and ready and there just wasn't any use in thinking about something i couldn't start for months. too much stress for this brain! :)

well, finally...the summer had come to the end for us and August 24th was the 'day' i had set aside to begin. the Lord allowed me to come down with a stomach bug over the weekend which kept me from worrying about today. i'm trying to think of that as a blessing. :) especially after today...THE DAY...where i realized there was nothing to be worried about!

it was GREAT!!! Harrison LOVED it which was surprising to me. i thought it may take him a while to warm up to it. i wondered if he would miss the big classroom environment. he may still, i guess. it's early. but today was wonderful! he was excited, i was excited, and it was just what i needed...to see that spark in his eye again about learning. he had lost it last year. i saw excitement in his eyes today and an eagerness to learn and do his best. what a blessing! he kept saying how FUN it was and how much he LOVED it. (i'm writing this all down so i can remind him when he decides he'd rather NOT do school) :) and the best part of all you may want to know???? do you want to know??? huh??? :)

we started at 9am and we were finished at 10:45!!! he kept saying, "we're done? we're really done"? i had saved his reading for after lunch but he and i decided that since we were ALREADY done we would go ahead and do it then. he was playing by 11:15am and we were out the door at 12pm so i could run at the YMCA. in the future it may take a little longer and we'll probably save his reading, awana memorization, and a novel that i will read to him until after lunch. STILL...a GREAT start i think! and it felt like we had our whole day left...to do whatever. so strange. tonight we celebrated our big day with a yummy Jason's Deli dinner!

in case you are interested, here is what we'll be working on this year. most of our curriculum is based on suggestions from The Well Trained Mind with a few variations:

Bible: Proverbs, Character Training, Bible Stories, AWANA memorization
Math: Right Start Math
Spelling Workout
Handwriting: Cursive - Zaner Bloser
Copy Work/Dictation
Phonics: The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading
Grammar: First Language Lessons
History: Story of the World - The Middle Ages (includes projects and map work)
Science: Fall - Exploring Creation through Astronomy (includes projects); Spring - Earth Science; Mudpies to Magnets - Science for Young Children (experiments)
Writing: Just Write, letters to Family & Friends
Reading: read aloud 20 minutes per day - chapter books; i will read aloud each day a couple chapters from classic novels we choose for the year; additional reading from library books about History and Science topics we are studying for the week.
Music: Music Ace & Piano Lessons
Arts and Crafts
Generations/Legacy Co-Op
Field Trips

Jackson will be working on your typical preschool things...letters, numbers, learning to write, starting phonics, learning to read and whatever else he's willing to participate in between play times! :)

we won't do all of this every day. some of it yes, and some of it is only 2x a week or less. it's divided out based on how many lessons are in the book. i'm thrilled with what we're going to be learning and very excited about the year ahead! thank you ALL for your support and prayers! i had some sweet notes waiting for me in my inbox this morning and phone calls today that meant so much to me...to know my sweet friends are thinking of us and praying for us is such a blessing! i'll try to update you on some of the fun stuff we do this year!

a healthy little girl

Addison went for her ultrasound of her kidneys/bladder and for an x-ray dye test to check and see if her bladder infection was a result of a "bigger" issue. Everything looked GREAT. She's as healthy as can be...aside from the infection. She had to be on two rounds of antibiotics and they will have to cath. her again at her 15 mo. appointment in a couple of weeks to make sure the infection is completely gone. Evidently these can be difficult to clear up, but hopefully after it's gone she won't get another one.

The test was pitiful. I along with two other nurses had to hold her down for over 30 minutes. I hope I never have to do anything like that again. There is just something really awful about hearing your baby cry, having them look up at you, as if begging you to make it stop and not being able to do a thing for them. I was a mess! We are SO glad she is alright and hoping this is the last of the infections for this little sweetheart!

hardly a minute...

hello blogger friends...

it feels as though i haven't blogged in forever. it really has been a while! we have been SO busy with summer stuff and vacationing. i just haven't made the time. i'll catch up eventually. feels like i have less and less minutes in the day to do what i NEED to do much less add anything in that i WANT to do! :) not to mention, the computer...sadly...can really distract me from my kids so i have been trying to limit it a little better. so hard to find a balance there.

we're enjoying a FABULOUS vacation. can't wait to post pictures and talk about all the fun we're having. it has been so wonderful to spend time with Anthony EVERY day. not having to have him rush off to work! can you tell i'm still adjusting to him not being at home every day. you would think i would be over it by now. i was SO spoiled before! :)

i have a tiny pit in my stomach about starting school with Harrison on Monday. i have lots of "home school" mom's encouraging me. i keep reminding myself of the "why's" that have gotten us to this point. i know God will sustain me. fear of the unknown. gets me EVERY time!

i'm reading your blogs...even if i'm not commenting. just know i'm still here.... :)

Addison

pray for Addison today.

she has her follow-up appointment for her bladder infection at 9:15am. they will most likely cath. her to get a urine sample. :(

she has a renal ultrasound to check her bladder and kidneys at 12pm. please pray that everything will look as it should.

thanks!