1st Day of school!

This picture just makes me want to cry!! When did he get so big?

Drew in front of the school on his first day.

Kaitlyn in line to go to 4th grade! I told her that it makes me feel old because I now have a 4th grader and she said it made her feel old too! HA!

Kait, Khloe and Cali Jo out front on the first day of school 2006.

Drew drawing a picture of himself on the first day of school.

Khloe headed to her classroom.

Kaitlyn listening.

Oh what a bittersweet day! Proverbs 22:6 Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. Oh how I hope that I am training them the right way! It was so hard to send all three of my babies off to school today! I am so thankful that the Lord has blessed me with three beautiful, healthy children, but why oh why do they have to grow so fast? I cannot believe that they are all in school. Drew went to his first day of Kindergarten, Khloe to 2nd grade and Kaitlyn to 4th grade. Drew's teacher is wonderful! I could not ask for a better start for him. I believe this year will be a "trial run" for him, as he is so young, and I'm not sure how he will do. Khloe has the same teacher that Kaitlyn did in 2nd grade, and she is very nice. She is a little loud and abrasive, and I'm not sure how Khloe will adapt to that, but as my husband sais (who never worries about anything), it will be good for her to be exposed to people like this. Kaitlyn is in a whole new hall, and gets Jr. High lunch this year. 4th grad is a big year, they learn so many new things. I think I am going to absolutly LOVE her teacher. She seems to treat the studens with respect and empower them with choices. You don't find that a lot with teachers. A lot of times they have the "I'm the teacher, you're the student, so you listen to me" attitude. I'm not saying that is all wrong, but this teacher seems to have a level of respect for the kids that I have not seen up to this point.

Because I now have three children in school, and one that is going to need a lot of extra help at home, I have cut my hours down to part time at work. This is something that I have wanted to do for a while, but the opportunity has just not been there. Drew going to Kindergarten was my push. I talked to my supervisor and my boss and they were both in agreement to let me change my hours so that I could be home with the kids after school every day. This was all God's work and God's timing and I am so thankful for this opportunity to be at home with my kids more.

A friend of mine sent me a copy of one of her daily devotions yesterday. It talked about how moms feel like failures as parents... boy could I realte to that! The author shared some encouragement that her husband had given to her. He said he felt that God thought that she was doing a better job than she thought she was doing. Wow was that comforting to me. I struggle every day with feelings of not doing enough, or not being enough, and I hope with all of my heart that God thinks that I am doing a better job at being a wife and mother than I think I am doing.

This is just another chapter in the life of being a mom, I know that I will face challenges ahead that are harder than this one... but for today, leaving that school with an empty van was the toughest yet.

Drew is 5!!

Drew is 5!!!

Painting the clubhouse.

I cannot believe that my baby is 5!! This is so hard for a Mommy! We celebrated Drew's 5th birthday at Chuck-E-Cheese with Grandma & Grandpa Penny and Great Grandma McCoy. We were supposed to celebrate with the rest of the family on the next day at Dragon Land water park, but it rained. :-(

Drew is such an unique child, we were unsure as to what to get him for his birthday. He does not play with toys... so why waste the $$? At the suggestion of a co-worker of mine (Thank you Nancy!) we got Drew cardboard boxes for his birthday. We also got him paints to paint his clubhouse and flashlights to use inside. We painted them and set them up end to end in his room and he has slept in them every night! I don't have pics of the finished project, but I will post them when I do. Happy Birthday to my baby!!!

Don't call me a hypocrit!

Main Entry: hypocrite
Pronunciation: 'hi-p&-"krit
Function: nounEtymology: Middle English ypocrite, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin hypocrita, from Greek hypokritEs actor, hypocrite, from hypokrinesthai
1 : a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion
2 : a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings

I have been accused this week of being a hypocrite. I am here to tell anyone that ends up here that I am not. I have a faith in God that is the core of my being. My faith in God gets me out of bed each morning to face yet another day of overwhelming responsibility and inevitable failure, but I rise up to face it all, just the same. While I may faulter in my walk, as we all do, I walk with Him every day. I strive to do good, to be good and to be a Christian exammple to my children and others. I do not put on a false appearance of religion. I do the best I can. I do not act in contradiction of my beliefs intentionally, but I do stumble. I guess that makes me a sinner, but thanks to Jesus Christ, whose life left him as he hung on a cross for me, I am forgiven. Call me a sinner, but don't call me a hypocrite.

I just returned from the Women of Faith Confrence. What an amazing weekend. This was my third year of attending the confrence and I would have to say this was the best confrence that I have been to. There were so many things that touched me this past weekend, the music, the laughter, the tears, the scripture, the testimonials... I could just go on and on. The speakers really spoke to my heart and stirred some things in me that have been dormant and/or un-nurtured for a while. I am looking forward to this renewed faith and insight that I found in St. Louis at the Women of Faith confrence. I cannot put into words how profound this confrence is, I cannot explain the things that you take home with you. I cannot articulate the emotions that you experience. I can only say that I will go every year until I no longer find that wealth of information and spiritual growth. I would encourage each and every woman that reads this to consider joining me June 15th and 16th next year. It is an amazing experience that you will not regret investing in nor will you ever forget.

Also, seen above (because I can't figure out how to put the picture here), is a picture of The Revolve Tour. This is a branch of Women of Faith, it is a confrence for teen girls. Several ladies from our church, along with myself, are going to take van loads of girls to The Revolve Tour in September. I am very excited about this. I wish that I would have been introduced to something like this when I was about 13 or 14. I am looking forward to taking the girls and watching how the information effects their lives. Here are links to these two confrences... I encourage you to get involved, it will strengthen you.

http://66.18.106.124/conferences/
http://www.revolvetour.com/