FALL FUN!!

The hay ride
The tire swing

Caraline feeding the goat

We had a great Fall break!

The girls & I went to the Parkhurst Pumpkin Patch with some good friends. The kids had a BALL (& the "photo opps" were amazing!) When you go to a cool pumpkin patch with girls who are serious scrapbookers...you end up taking 100's of pictures!

Caraline LOVED the petting zoo! Lydia's favorite part was the hay ride. I loved each smile on my little angels' faces.
Caraline had a hard time deciding on which pumpkin she really wanted. She would carry one around until she found a cooler one. She would DROP the one she had to pick up the other. At one point, she was trying to pick up two!

Saturday was OSU homecoming! My girls love the parade! It is always a fun-filled day.
That day we went to another pumpkin patch in Perry. It was different than any pumpkin patch I had been to. You actually cut your own pumpkin off the vine. It was really cool!

What a great weekend! One that will not be soon forgotten!

"And you will always give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Ephesians 5:20

Caraline's eye surgery

Meeting "Besty" the puppet
Holding my "hospital bear"
Drinking juice after surgery
Do my eyes look red to you?

Scott and I found out that Caraline needed eye surgery in September. Her eyes were turning in even with her glasses on & she didn't want to wear them anymore. Her glasses were "too strong" for her eyes, her eye sight was getting better, but with her eyes still turning in, that meant more of a muscle problem than a vision problem.
Caraline's surgery was the morning of October 7th at Baptist Hospital. We didn't sleep well the night before! We all tossed and turned all night! We had to be at the hospital at 7:15am. Caraline was scheduled for surgery at 8:45am.
Caraline was playing on the chairs in the waiting room & met "Besty" the puppet. (Lydia met "Besty" in May 2007 when she had her eye surgery.)
She sat realy quitely with her hospital gown on as we read books to pass the time. I felt better once I saw Dr. Scott & he said "There's my cross-eyed patient!" We laughed because we sometimes call her our "cross-eyed girl".
Caraline was not real happy when the nurse took her back without us. (With Lydia, they gave her some meds to make her loopy & she didn't care when they came to get her.)
30 minutes later, Dr. Scott came out & said her little muscles were wound tight like Lydia's were. She did great!:)
When we went back to see her, she was a little fussy, but not as bad as Lydia was after her surgery. Caraline really wanted that IV out of her arm!
We were home for 11:30am & Caraline was running around the house like nothing happened! She was hungry & talking away!
Caraline hates her eye drops, but other than that, she is doing great!
Thanks to everyone who prayed for Caraline!

"He renews our hopes & heals our bodies." Psalm 147:3

What every parent wants to know from the teacher...

Every parent wants to know if their child has friends. Every parent prays that their child has friends & knows HOW to be a friend. They want their child to be friendly & well liked.

Today when I picked Lydia up from school, she told me "Ashley said she doesn't like me."

She stated it. She didn't seem upset, she said it every "matter-of-factly".

At first I wanted to tell her teacher, but I thought "What was she going to do? These kids are 3 or 4 years old."

I asked her "What did you say when she said she didn't like you?" Lydia said "I said nothing."

I asked her if she was in her class & she said no, she was in a different class. My heart broke!!

I thought, "This is why I didn't want her in public school!! I wanted to protect her from that."

I cried a little, hoping she didn't see me. Then I said "Well, Ashley just doesn't know you. Once she got to know you, she would like you!" Lydia said "I just played with Annie."

I said, "There will be times that people say things that aren't nice, but you know someone who will always love you & like you..." She said "I know, GOD!" "And me, your dad, sister, your family," I added.

Lydia looked at me & said "I know, thanks for telling me, mom!"

I know that in reality, not everyone is going to like me, Scott, Lydia or Caraline, but God is ALWAYS going to love me & like me. What God thinks about me is more important anyway.

" There are 'friends' who destory each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother."

Proverbs 18:24

Lydia goes to preschool!

Last week Lydia started preschool at Peace preschool. It's not "offically" preschool since she won't be 4 until after Sept. 1st, but it is a preschool setting.

I was a little concerned since she cried a lot last year at Mother's day out. And on the day we met the teacher, she was a little stand offish, but she did SO great!! She loves it! She has not cried once!

Lydia is a sweet, but shy girl. I worry that she plays by herself & doesn't reach out to friends. She told me today she just wanted to play by herself. I told her I wanted her to talk to one person & tell me about it.

When we got home, I asked her who she talked to, & she said "It was a girl with long white hair." Good! At least she talked to another girl! I think everyone wants their child to have good friends.

I want her to have a fun school experience. But we still talk about how next year, she will learn at home with mommy. I want to try to homeschool her next year.

I'm so proud of her, she is growing up SO fast!

"Wise friends make you wise, but you hurt yourself by going around with fools" Proverbs 13:20

Grandpa Bob is 85!

My mom's father, my Grandpa Bob's birthday was September 1st. He is the only grandpa I've ever known since my dad's dad, my Grandpa Lex, passed away before I was born.

I've always had a special place in my heart for my Grandpa Bob. I cherish the time we spend together. I always kiss & hug him before we leave. Maybe it's because he is the only grandpa I have that I know how special that relationship is. I'm also the oldest grandchild....so of course I'm the favorite!:)
I'm so glad that my girls get a chance to know Grandpa Bob. We don't get to see my grandma & grandpa very much since we live a hour & 1/2 away & all their other grandchildren/great-grandchildren live in the same town.

Grandpa says things like "Your girls don't really know me since we don't get to see you very much."...which in a way is true, but I talk to Lydia & Caraline about grandpa & grandma all the time.

We had planned a family get-together for Grandpa Bob's 85th birthday at the lake. Lydia fell asleep in the car on the way to the lake. She was sleepy & Grandpa "jokingly" held out his arms to her & she went & sat in his lap & snuggled. Grandpa said that made his day.

All the great-granddaughters made Grandpa a birthday shirt. We have 8 great-granddaughters & they all put their hand prints on the shirt & one of Grandma's hands made it 85 fingers. We added a ladybug to the collar to represent Angel Addyson.

We passed around a little scrapbook that everyone wrote a memory or something they loved about Grandpa.

I hope he felt the love of his family on his 85th birthday & everyday after!

We are blessed to have such a rich heritage!

"Rejoice in all the good things the Lord your God has given to you & your household." Deuteronomy 26:11

Every parent's nightmare!

Friday, the girls and I went to the Omniplex, the Science Museum with some good friends. We always have a great time at the Omniplex!!
We got there at 9am to make a day of it. We ate lunch there and learned all kinds of things.
Caraline got really fussy & fell asleep at 1:30pm so I decided it was time to go. My friend Lisa and her girls were in a magic show. When I told Lydia we needed to go home, she started crying & ran away from me!! At first she just ran around in circles, but then she run under a display & out of my sight!! By the time I ran around the display box with Caraline in the stroller, I could not see Lydia!
It was 1:30pm & there were a lot of families & kids there. There were three different sections she could have ran to. All three were very big & fairly crowded. Something was holding me in the same place. Something told me to stay in the area that I lost sight of her because she would come back.
I didn't know what to do!! I was trying not to panic! My mind was racing with all the things I needed to do: do I find someone who worked there and ask them to page her, do I start screaming and get everyone's attention to help me look, do I ask someone if they saw a little blonde girl with little pigtails and glasses in a red shirt? I started calling her name REALLY LOUDLY, "LYDIA!!!" "LYDIA?!?!?!" I walked one way a few steps then turned back around & walked back to where I was, and then I saw Lydia come out from under a little table and smile I me.
I ran to her, bend down & tried not to cry!! I told her that scared mommy and someone not very nice could have taken her away & we wouldn't see her anymore.
Lydia said "Sorry mommy, I won't do that again."
I thanked God that nothing had happened to her & I found her in a short amount of time. That was the LONGEST 3 minutes of my life!!

I know God had angels watching that girl for me!!

"Keep me safe, O God, for I have come to you for refuge." Psalm 16:1

Is there a doctor in the house?

The other day Lydia & Caraline were playing doctor. It was so sweet & cute. Then we decided to play vet & we were checking ALL the animals in the house!!! The girls thought that was so fun!

Our girls are getting so big & I love staying home with them. The other day I was able to take a 3 minute shower while the girls played in their room together and when I RAN to check on them, they were playing nicely with the puzzles.

If you were to ask me a few years ago if I would like to stay home, I would have told you for about 2 years, but I would go back to work soon.

BOY, have things changed!!

I will have been home with the girls for 2 years in November and I do not feel the need to go back to work any time soon!! I have enough to do at home!!!

I love staying home with my girls so much that in the past few days, I've been thinking bout homeschooling!!! I have about a year before Lydia offically would be a preschooler. This fall she is going to a private preschool program 3 half days a week. We will see how that goes, but I think I want more time with them.

They are so much fun to be around! Don't get me wrong, there are days I would like to take them to daycare and go to work, but I hated leaving Lydia everyday at daycare.

I was always so torn between being with my child & working with 20 first graders. At work, the kids were ALWAYS first graders, the group that I worked with were always going to be 6 or 7 years old. Lydia was growing and getting bigger everyday & I was missing that.

I know that I will NOT regret being home with my girls. I can always teach another time.

Maybe I will even teach my girls at home. I may need my head examined, but I think I would like to give it a try. I want to be able to watch them grow in many more ways!

Who knows, Lydia and Caraline could be your doctor someday.

"Respect & obey the Lord. This is the beginning of wisdom." Proverbs 9:10