Favorites List

Since this is the first week of kindergarten I thought I would share our "Favorites List". This is a little game I have been playing with Noah to try and get some information out of him from school. He tells me his favorite thing about his day, the next favorite, and so on, until he gets to his least favorite. For each on his list he would tell me a little story about each.

Noah's List from the first day (please note how ready he is to go to school...so excited!)
1. Most favorite - Snack time (this is no surprise because he LOVES to eat!)
2. Next favorite - Recess in the gym
3. Least favorite - Story time (my guess because he had to sit still)

2nd Day Favorites List

1. Recess at the playground
2. Snack time
3. Least favorite: Could not think of one. He said he loved everything he did. Yay!

My Favorites List for this week
1. Most favorite: Seeing the love that Noah and Nathan have for each other. Noah has worried about Nathan all week and really just loved on him in such a sweet way. I did not tell Noah this, but Nathan has been so sad without Noah here. The first day he did not move from the couch the entire time Noah was gone. He just held on to his blanket and watched TV. The second day he probably asked for Noah 400 times. He followed me around like a lost puppy dog and just wouldn't play with anything! If Noah knew how sad Nathan had been, he wouldn't be able to enjoy school.  He just cares that much about people, that he would rather miss out than know that someone is upset because of him.
2. Next favorite: Seeing how much Noah is enjoying himself. I love seeing the sparkle in his eye when he talks about school and the spring in his step as he is getting ready to go. He LOVES it and it makes the transition so much better for me knowing that he is happy.
3. I love how the school loves the kids and most importantly loves Jesus. You can see in their face, you can see in their actions, you can feel it when you walk through the halls. It gives me chills.
4. My least favorite. Letting go.

Orientation Day

Since today was the last day we had together before school starts tomorrow, Noah and I had some quality time on our porch with the red rockers. We just sat and rocked while Nathan was napping. We talked about silly things like toads ....and important things like what is college going to be like (for some reason he kept telling people all day today he was going to college tomorrow). So he's a little confused but I'm sure the pain I will feel tomorrow as I drop him off will be similar to those mamas who have suffered through their first weekend without their new college freshman.
After being out on the porch for a while, Noah stepped inside for a minute and when he returned he said, " I am sooo sorry! That took longer than I expected. I had to use the bathroom and THEN I had to wash my hands!" The way he said just made me laugh because he sounded so proper like a garden club lady. He sounded like a little man. :)

Today was great as Noah was able to meet his teacher Mrs. Fox. She's the one with the white jacket. She has a great smile and a kind voice. We both instantly loved her! Noah was so happy to see his seat, with his name, an apple, and a treat bag.  There are 10 children in his class, and I think that is wonderful.

Above are a few things I thought were special on the walls. One of the things is the chart labeled "Honorable Character". This is what the entire school will be using in lieu of the disciple card flipping they used before. Instead of using negative reinforcement when a child misbehaves (card flips), they reward the children for good behavior, and note areas that they need to refine. See this link if you are interested more. It is a really great system that you can even use at home. http://www.honorablecharacter.com/

I think all in all it was a good day. The teacher gave me permission to walk Noah to the classroom on his first day but after that, we have to drop him off at the front of the school. I think the two of us have a lot of growing up to do this week and I'm so glad we had some quiet time today to talk about toads and college. I'll treasure these moments forever.

Family Picnic Day

Today we had our Family picnic day for new families at Noah's school. This was for all age groups and for any family who would be entering the school for the first time. The picnic started at 11am. The kids just ran in the gym and just got to know each other in the beginning.

Noah got hit in the face with a soccer ball early on. A lot of the kids were much bigger than he was and he just wanted to be in the middle of it all. Here he is above after a few tears and a hurt ego.

Then here's Nathan....aka Mr. Grouchy "I need my nap" Pants. Eric and Nathan left after only being there for about 15 minutes. So that left Noah and I to go through 3-4 very long yet informative classrooms meetings about school procedures. They said Noah could stay in the gym and play with the other kids, but since he had already gotten hurt once, he stayed with me for the meetings (most of the younger children went with the parents).

Here he is...bored out of his mind!!!
Finally after what seemed like hours, we were able to sit down and eat the cookout food.

Noah nearly stuffed an entire hot dog in his mouth in the first picture, and I almost did the same with a burger!! All those classroom meetings made us famished!! Noah's first real impression of his school was not great, but I'm sure his orientation on Monday will be better...I'm praying!! I learned more about how much this school REALLY loves Jesus, and how hard they try to make this school accessible to everyone through scholarships and tuition assistance. It didn't seem like your normal stuffy private school. It seemed like I place where I know once Noah sees his teacher and new friends, and gets in his normal routine, he will grow like a weed!!

Books For FREE!

I have recently joined a group called "BookSneeze". When you join this group, they send you free books to review (and keep!) in exchange for an honest review on your blog. I LOVE to read, and who could pass up an opportunity to get all sorts of free books, just for a review?! I can't wait for my first one to arrive. I'll be posting my reviews soon! I'm not much of a reviewer, so this will be a learning curve and challenge for me.

What we've been up to

1. We have been so busy with the move I haven't had time to think!
2. We have been frantically cleaning, packing the old house, and unpacking the new house.
3. My camera is broken!! :( Boo! I fell in a creek and ruined it so I will just have to use phones pictures until I get a new one.

Please read on for more on what we've been up to....

Move day was Monday Aug. the 1st. The movers were wonderful...so careful and efficient. April Scott watched the boys for us ALL DAY...she played with them, fed them, napped them, and then bathed them. Then she delivered them with happy full hearts at dinner time. After all that, April and her husband Pastor Dustin graciously shared a carryout dinner with us and prayed with us. Our day would not have been possible or more special without these wonderful angels that God purposefully put into our lives.


There was no bath for me on the first night, or relaxing in the rocking chair! Just plenty of work that continues even still. Tomorrow we will turn the keys to the old place and finally be able to focus on getting settled in the new one.

The boys have been keeping themselves busy while Eric and I work doing things like .....

Catching bugs! The first picture is of a massive praying mantis. We kept him for a few days in our bug habitat and then let him go. But he's still hanging out  by the door....and did I mention he is HUGE!
The boys have also been catching tiny little frogs. The second picture is the sand /water table that has been converted to a frog pool with plastic toys being used as lily pads. The imagination and the grossness factor is overwhelming!!

Today I rode my bike to the mailbox to get the mail. This is just hilarious in so many ways but I really enjoyed it! I'm sure the neighbors were laughing at how unsteady I was (I used to be a great rider and now not so much). We are really looking forward to settling in, having some new adventures, and making this place the home we have always dreamed of having.

The Move Progress

As per my sister's request, I'm updating on our move progress. We are just days away from our move and there are boxes, boxes, and more boxes!! The boys have enjoyed the added challenge of having to maneuver through all the obstacles.... while we, the parents, struggle to stay upright. I can hear Eric crashing into boxes late at night trying to be quiet.

We have been trying to eat through our freezer and cupboard items for the past few weeks to cut down on expenses and make our move easier. It seems no matter how many beans we eat, they seem to multiply!!  Yuck! I can't wait to start cooking some home cooked meals again but for now all the pots, pans and dishes are packed up and the beans are a plenty!

Noah's snack today on paper plate and plastic cup. He thought it was the best thing in the world...saltines/peanut butter sandwiches, broken pretzels, and chocolate milk. Hey, at least it wasn't beans!!

The move has been exhausting, especially since Eric has been working and just finished being on call. I've had to do all the packing, but I am grateful for sweet friends who encourage us to stop and take breaks for our sanity. It has made this move much more pleasant and the boys think it is quite the adventure!

I can say for sure, however, on our first night in our new home....I will be filling this up with lots of bubbles and HOT water and RELAXING! Then maybe after the boys go to bed, sit on the front porch with this guy, holding hands in our rocking chairs....happy to finally be HOME!

Vacation Bible School

This has just been an incredible week, one unlike any other our family has experienced. VBS started on Sunday and went through Thurs. This year the theme for the preschoolers (the older kids had a different theme) was PandaMania. The children learned that God is wild about them, loves them no matter what, listens to you, watches over you...and just really the "what you need to know" about our awesome and loving Father. The curriculum was perfectly suited for this younger age group and was just pure genius to split the preschoolers into this group. There were stations that the children would travel through each night....opening/closing time, music, crafts, recreation/snack time, and bible story time. Eric and I served as teachers this year to the 4 yr old class and our job was to move the children from station to station....then each station had their own specially gifted servant that would run the station.

Above is the Bible story time. This is Mrs. Martha (she is AMAZING) dressed as Jonah. She had an opened can of tuna so the children would know how horrible it smelled inside that whale's belly. It was awe inspiring for me to watch her use all the senses to teach a lesson. Each night her stories had incredible and tangible visuals that reached these children like I would have NEVER thought to do. Her example showed me about truly getting to the level of the children and helping them understand these stories. I am certain the memory of these bible stories and the important lessons from each have been permanently planted in their hearts and minds forever.

Please excuse the poor quality of my pictures...I forgot my camera every.single.night. :( So this is the best I could do with my phone and I only have a few moments captured from the whole week. This is Mrs. Wendy and music time. This was high energy time that was fun and full of music that helped us smile, worship, and learn more about God's love.

My absolute favorite time of the night was the rest time for the VBS workers. Another ingenious plan by the Children's Pastor and his wife (Dustin and April - LOVE them and appreciate them so). This was a place where the servants of VBS, were served. A refuge was set up in the church's library where the workers were allowed a 20-25 minute break. There were fresh snacks and drinks each night! There was plenty of laughter, encouragement, and just a true sense of fellowship and love. I have never been involved with a VBS where the workers were actually pampered in such a loving way!

One of our biggest worries about the VBS week was our youngest, Nathan. Most nights we didn't get home until 9, so it was way past his bedtime and this was his very first VBS. We were blessed with an angel, who is a very smart mommy, that kept us all busy during the day so the boys would take very good naps before the big nights. Nathan did wonderfully and made a new friend, Mrs. Angie. The 2 yr old class had teachers that stayed one-on-one with this group so she was with him all week and Nathan was more than infatuated with her. The last picture above shows her spoon feeding him ice cream (he totally had her wrapped around her finger). The picture above that was sing and dance time. Most nights he would obsess about making sure he looked handsome enough before we left for church! So funny! It really was a blessing to not worry for even one second about him the entire week and just focus on our task. The attachment between them was hard to break on our final celebration night and there were tears by both. She has been sweet to offer to babysit him (and Noah) so we can go on a date night! Wow, another blessing!


This week, our family grew leaps and bounds in our relationship with Christ, with friends, and as a family. I am so thankful for our church and the people in it...there is a very special place in our hearts for all they have done for us and we look forward to serving there for many many years to come (we specifically picked out our new property so we would not have to change churches)!