Back At It

Here is the obligatory 1st day of school picture of Isaac.


Ethan was in no mood to be photographed before school started, so I'll take one tomorrow. I do, however, have some pictures of him, happy, at lunchtime, and all 3 of them, still happy, at Sno Biz, where we went to celebrate the end of the first day.







It was such a great day. Eric took Isaac to school, since he now attends an upper elementary school that is further away from our house. I'll miss getting to walk with him, but it will be nice Dad-time for him and Eric to share the ride over there. He was pretty excited about school. We met his teacher the night before and couldn't be more pleased. She seems exactly what he needs. We're looking forward to a great 3rd grade year.

Ethan's day didn't start out all that great. He was very upset to be going yesterday morning and I was worried that we'd have a big scene when we got to school. But he did GREAT! He is in the best possible situation a kids can have in kindergarten. 1st of all, his very best gal pal, Bella Rose, is in his class. She is the daughter of our youth minister at church and they are great friends. They've been friends since we got here and he was 18 months old or so. 2nd, the assistant in his class is also a sweet lady from church. She is the 2year old sunday school teacher who both Ethan and Bella had. Ethan knows her well. 3rd, his teacher is wonderful. Having been up at school a lot over the past few years, I was confident that he would do fine in any classroom, but I am so happy he has Mrs. Fonville. She's going to be great for him. So he was fine when Jaylie and I left him. Then we went back at lunchtime to help all the kindergarteners with lunch procedures. Many of them haven't ever opened a milk carton or carried their lunch tray, so we get parents to come help during the 1st week of school. Ethan was happy to see us (Eric and my mom also came up) and Jaylie was excited to get to sit with him at his table. After school, he was so excited to see us again, but probably more excited to see Gretchen on her leash. He thought it was pretty neat to be picked up with Gretchen in tow.

All in all, it was a great day. It was long, that's for sure, especially with church last night. But they did great. The kindergarteners are divided up by alphabet the first 2 days so he is off today. Tomorrow he'll go again with his whole class. He said earlier, "Mom, I can't wait for tomorrow. I really like school!" Music to my ears...

In case you're wondering what Jaylie and I are doing without boys in the house, here ya go:




She starts ballet classes Sept 8 and can talk of little else. I think she's going to be great...

Enjoy the weekend

Much Love
D

14 Years

Well, it's been a long time of no posting, huh! So sorry. I have no excuses, really. I just haven't done it. There's a lot of stuff I haven't done this summer...man---I have a problem with following through, apparently.

There's one thing I don't have trouble remaining committed to and that is my marriage. Today, Eric and I celebrate our 14th wedding anniversary! Being married to Eric is as natural as breathing to me. He is such a blessing to me. He's my best friend and is such a great Daddy to our children. Eric is an example to so many people who don't know him nearly as well as I do...but he's also an example to me.

One thing I have accomplished this summer is moving Isaac upstairs into his own room. This has resulted in me having to find new homes for LOTS of other things that had been up there. In this process, I uncovered our wedding book. It is neat to go back and look through all those memories. I saved a hand full of congratulations cards and one of them said, "Let me be the first to wish you happy 50th anniversary. I know you'll make it." I remember thinking, then, that 50 years is a REALLY long time. We're not even half-way there yet, but these 14 years have flown by. They've been full of moves and babies and new experiences and friends and family...and just so full of love. We are blessed in one another.

At our 50th anniversary, we'll only be 68 and 69...maybe we'll squeeze 15 more anniversaries out of this life. And then on toward eternity with each other. I have been struck recently with the scripture that we all know: "Therefore what God has joined, let man not separate." I have been comforted that my life on earth is but a breath, and when God joins, He probably doesn't do it temporarily. So I'm happy to be joined with Eric while we are here...happier still to be joined with him forever.

Blessings
D

Playing Catch Up

I have realized that I needed to update my blog for quite sometime now. I was looking at the previous post thinking that too much had happened and I just simply write a post that would fill everyone in on what's been going on in the month (almost) since then. I'll try to hit the high points.

* On May 22, my parents took off with the kids to Galveston. Eric and I joined them on the 24th so we had a mini-staycation and a peaceful 9 hour drive to TX. Our week at the beach was marvelous. The weather was great. The beach was so uncrowded as to almost be deserted, and Schlitterbahn was fabulous. Everyone had a great time.

* On May 29, Eric and my dad drove the kids home and mother and I went to Beeville to be there for the movers. My Grandmother's house sold and she had decided to move to a retirement community in San Antonio. It has all worked out really well. After the movers were done we went on to San Antonio and helped with the move in. I flew home on June 1. Gotta love Southwest Airlines.

* This past week found me just trying to keep my head above water, it seemed. Eric had done a magnificent job of keeping the laundry done the pantry stocked and the house clean. (He had the unpleasant task of doing all the post vacation laundry and all the grocery buying since we'd been gone for a week and the cupboards were empty. The house was very neat when I got home...He's so great) I managed to go until Friday before hitting Walmart...that's saying quite a bit.

* Then this past weekend Eric and I sang in the wedding of a sweet couple at church. We wish Craig and Cindy a wonderful happy life together.

* And NOW, we're in the midst of VBS week. I'll be glad when it's over only because then it seems like my days won't be as planned. The kids are having a great time, and I am too. I'm ready for a little less structure to my days:)

Things we're looking forward to:

~My sister-in-law, Dawn, and her family will be coming to visit in a couple of weeks.
~The first week in July we'll be in Nashville hanging out with family while Eric is in class at Lipscomb.
~The second week in July, Eric and Isaac will be at church camp. We'll make a few trips up there to see them but my days will be different, that's for sure.

After church camp, it'll be about 3 weeks left of summer. We start on Aug. 12 this year. Isaac is real excited about 3rd grade, which is a plus. Ethan is moderately excited (but very unsure) about kindergarten. Jaylie's not going to know what hit her when these boys are out of the house. She gets to take ballet starting in Sept. and I know she's going to love that.

OK..
Consider yourself updated. I'll do better in the future. As soon as I download pictures, I'll post 'em.

Blessings
D


Oh yeah, I'm back on facebook at least through out the summer. I figured I could manage my time with it a bit better. We'll see how it goes after school's back in. So feel free to visit me over there too.

Conversations with Isaac

On our way home from school today, this is how the conversation went with Isaac.

Isaac: I wonder what color Gretchen sees us in; black or white.
Me: I think she sees us in both. Like if we're wearing yellow, she'd see white and if you have on blue jeans, those would look black. I think she sees everything in shades of black and white, not one or the other.
Isaac: I think that whoever put color into movies should do that to dogs' eyes.
Me: Well, a dog sees like that because that's the way God made them to see.
Isaac: Yes, but someone could still fix it so they could see color.
Me: Are you suggesting that something God has made is not perfect in and of itself?
Isaac: Well, a newborn baby can't do anything and doesn't know anything.
Me: Yes, but they are made to grow and learn. That is the way God designed it.
Isaac: But who teaches them?
Me: Parents, this is also the way God planned it to be.
Isaac: Hmmm....Did you know Jews don't believe in Jesus?
Me: Well, some of them do. Most of them don't believe he is the Savior. How do you know that though?
Isaac: My friend in Pathways who is Jewish told me.
Me: I didn't know you had any Jewish friends


Then he told me how they were bidding on a book in their auction today (they bid with points accrued throughout the year) and this book was about prayers and this boy asked if there was anything about Jesus in it. There isn't so he bid on it but apparently Isaac out-bid him because he brought it home)

Me: Did you know he was Jewish before today?
Isaac: Yes, because he had Hannukah at Christmas time.

Then we got home and he was busy talking to Nana.

Anyway, I thought I'd share this with you. I think it is the first 'debate' (about the perfection of God's creation) we've had and I thought it was interesting to hear him follow an argument to it's conclusion. I also thought it was neat to hear how that led to his conversation with his friend who is Jewish. I love that he knows kids who are different than he is and that he is able to share who he is with them. He is a thinker so I expect to hear more about this over the next few days.

I hope everyone's week is going smoothly. We have field day on Friday and I've been organizing the volunteers for that. It should be a fun day if the weather will cooperate. We just have 5 1/2 days left! Woo hoo!

Blessings
D

Happy Birthday Ethan

Today was Ethan's 5th Birthday. The 5th Birthday is a big deal to me because that is school-age. He'll be starting Kindergarten this fall and that just hardly seems possible. I'm so proud of my little guy. He's such a tender heart and is very considerate for one so young. Ethan is just a joy to be around.

We had a great time at his party. In addition to the had red (for Mario) and green (for Luigi) hats I had gotten for Ethan's guests to wear, I also had made mustaches for them. They were all cute with them on and we managed to get a picture before they decided to take them off.


After that they went out to hunt Yoshi eggs that were filled with gold coins (the chocolate kind) Here's some of the loot.


After that the kids went and played while the pizza cooked in the oven. When it was ready, they ate outside on the patio.



After pizza it was finally time to cut that Mario cake. It was good and the Birthday boy was very pleased.


And then it was present time.




We have a sweet 5 year old and he had a great time today. I feel so blessed to be Ethan's mommy. I pray that he will always feel the hand of God on him, guiding him in His way.




What an angel.

Real Fast

I have completed Ethan's birthday cake with the wonderful help of my good friend Liz. Since I am pretty proud of our work, I thought I'd post these pictures real quick. The party is Saturday so I'll put more pictures up after that.

End of the Year

Sorry I've been absent for a while. I'm not sure how many folks actually READ my blog, but all 3 or 4 of you may be wondering where I've been. Well the answer is, I've been here, up to my eyeballs in things that need doing. I've been marginally successful in actually doing them so that translates into feeling constantly behind. Have you ever felt like that?

Last Saturday was our annual neighborhood garage sale which we participated in. We didn't have all that much to sell but a couple of other families wanted to use our garage and so we had a little garage sale party. The good news about that is that we have a small basket of things that didn't sell, which is pretty good. Getting ready for any garage sale is hectic, but this year it meant rearranging furniture because I am hoping to move Isaac upstairs at some point before next year's garage sale. Right now our bonus room is our computer room/play room/game cube room. But if his bed and stuff is going to fit, we had to move/get rid of lots of that stuff. Normally this wouldn't be all that big a deal except that Eric is in the throes of finals and term papers so I hated to ask him for help. That's where Liz comes in. God love her super-organized mind...and her willingness to move mattresses and other furniture with me! Thanks Liz.

This Saturday, Ethan turns 5 and so we'll be having several other 4 and 5 year old kids over that day. I'm in the process of attempting the most complicated birthday cake in all my years as mom. I'm a pretty uncomplicated person who doesn't do well with lots of details so...we'll see how that goes. Thankfully my sister-in-law, Dawn, has taken lots of Wilton cake decorating classes and assures me that I can do it. And a good friend of mine, also named Daun, used to work in a bakery and has decorated countless amazing cakes and she said she'd help me if I needed it. I'll post pictures of the finished product.

This week at school is Teacher Appreciation Week so I've got sweet surprises scheduled all week for Isaac's teacher, Mrs. Pierce. She's such a wonderful teacher for him. We couldn't have asked for better.

Ethan is now finished with preschool and so I've got both little ones home all the time. It is good. They play very well together and giggle a lot...when they're not bothering one another. I'm needing a day without kids to work on my house...which has all fallen by the wayside in the midst of all the other things I've been up to. At least I've managed to keep up with the laundry.

OK, so now I'm off to start the day, now that it's 10:00! It has been nice to not have to rush off someplace right after getting Isaac to school. I've been needing some leisurely mornings. We watched Enchanted this morning, which I love. After I saw that last year, I went out and bought several sundresses (because Giselle wears dresses constantly in the movie). I've already added to my collection this spring. I feel so much better in a sundress than in shorts. How many of you would rather shop for dresses than shorts?

Enjoy the day
D