waiting....

Potty training

I have hesitated to say it but Natalie is officially potty trained!!! I am so proud of her. She has been going potty for many months but for the last month and half she has been in underwear and has had no accidents even at night!!!! Woo hoo!!! No more diapers or Pull-ups!!!

Dance Recital

Juliana's dance recital was last week! She had been looking so forward to it! She had been practicing and showing us her routine for months!

Juliana loves the makeup. I feel so weird putting it on so heavy, especially the eyeliner. It is so hard to put eyeliner on a little girl. I don't wear it so maybe I just need practice!

They were hula girls and did a ballet and tap routine to songs from Lilo and Stitch. The theme was Hollywood/movies for Full Out Dance Studio. There was only one other girl in her class and she is several years older than Juliana. I was worried that Juliana would be nervous or not do as well but she was awesome!! She wasn't even nervous. She did great and smiled so well!!

Juliana's teacher is Miss Mary Grace and Juliana just loves her!! She was so excited about dancing that I signed her up for summer dance!

I am looking forward to next year and getting to see Juliana dance again and have Natalie join her!!!

Glasses

My big girl had to get glasses last month. I knew she would need them eventually. I had to get glasses when I was a freshman and Drew needed them after college. So, I thought both girls would need them in high school or after just not this soon! Juliana is farsighted and already has an astigmatism. I wish she didn't have to worry about this already. I worry how the glasses will make it through kindergarten. As a teacher, kids with glasses and retainers always made me nervous. It was so hard for little kids to keep up with them. After finding out the news, we had fun trying on lots of different types of glasses eventually deciding on a pink and purple pair. So far she has been really responsible and has remembered to put them back in the case. Most importantly, Juliana looks so cute in them!!!

I'm letting go

I heard a song today on the way home from the doctor and it just hit me. This is where I am in life. I am sure that I have heard it before but I guess I never really listened to the lyrics.

I am holding so tightly to my dreams that I am missing out on what God has planned for me. God's plan is so good. Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." I have to let go and give in to His word, His will. Rest not resist what his plans are for me. I have been resisting a lot lately. So much that it is getting in the way of the many blessings He has given me.

The song says:
I’m letting go
Of the life I planned for me
And my dreams
I’m losing control
Of my destiny
It feels like I’m falling and that’s what it’s like to believe
So I’m letting go

I have to give in to faith and believe and not hold on to my "dreams."
Proverbs 3:5-6 says, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."
Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

I have been researching a Bible study for this summer and think it will be Becoming a Woman of Purpose. I need to delve into the Word and figure out what God's plan and purpose is for me. On Amazon, the book says, "As you grow toward genuine peace and fulfillment, you'll learn the joy of loving God and others, waiting on Him with hope, trusting Him through suffering, serving Him with reverent fear, and fulfilling His purposes." That sounds amazing!!

Giving in to your gravity
Knowing You are holding me
I’m not afraid

We love a parade!

We love going to parades!! It is great to live in a small town because small towns have great parades. Alton has a fabulous Halloween parade. So fabulous that they trick or treat on the 30th so the parade can be on the 31st. The Memorial Day parade is also fun. I always go a little overboard on the "costumes." Gotta love Children's Place clearance after each holiday!


We always go with my parents and sit in the same spot. Juliana usually stands with her hands on her ears because she doesn't like loud noises.

The girls got lots of candy and flowers.

Thankfully, they even got popsicles because it was so HOT!!!!

City Girl

I am definitely a city girl. I don't like the country and I don't like being outside unless it is at the beach or a city. Drew, on the other hand, is a country boy. He grew up going to his Granddaddy's farm Prairie View all summer every summer until he was a teenager. He loves tractors, fishing and being outside. We couldn't be more opposite there! So, it is important to Drew to go to Prairie View a lot in the summertime and share that side of himself with Juliana and Natalie. This is not something I usually look forward to. Normally, I grit my teeth and deal with it. However, when we went two weeks ago it was actually pretty fun. We got yummy Qdoba on the way so that is a great start!!! We played board games and spent time together with no computer or TV on. The next morning we went to see the cows. Our dog Bailey kept barking at them and scared them away so no good pictures. The girls sat on the 4 wheeler.

I forgot the helmets so no rides this time. Natalie loved the tractor and finding worms with Drew for fishing.

We went to visit Drew's great Uncle Weldon at his cute store in Shelbyville. He is 92 and still comes into the store everyday. It has lots of sewing supplies and fabric so we picked some out to make cute t-shirts for the girls soon.

We found a fun playground and a little Mennonite grocery store and got a yummy chocolate snack. We built lots of fun memories and I am actually looking forward to going back!!

A Treasure

I have not been feeling very loveable lately. I have been in a huge funk and have been so grumpy. I was hoping the nicer weather would help my mood but nothing has! I have been praying about it a lot because it is affecting my family and other relationships because I feel like I say the wrong things and put my foot in my mouth a lot because of it.

It is amazing to know that despite what I feel God loves me and that is the most important thing. Romans 8: 38-39 says "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." I tell my girls that I love them no matter what and I know that God feels this way about me, even if no one else does.

There is a song by Sanctus Real that I love that makes me realize this.

"When I don't fit in
And I don’t feel like I belong anywhere
When I don’t measure up to much in this life
Oh, I’m a treasure in the arms of Christ"

Wow. I'm a treasure in the arms of Christ. What is better than that!

Juliana is 5!!!

My big girl just turned 5!! These 5 years have just flown by! It seems like yesterday that I was staring into her eyes for the very first time. She is such a joy and a blessing to us! She is such a good girl and an amazing big sister. I love how excited she gets about going to school and how much she likes to read. She loves to jump and run and play outside. She is so smart and is going to do awesome in kindergarten! Juliana made me a mommy and I am so glad that God gave her to me! I love you so much!!!!

red hair

Before I had children I never really paid attention to babies or kids. If I saw a cute baby, I might have thought what a cute baby but I never went to the mom and said anything. I certainly never paid attention to hair color until I had a little girl with red curls. Every single day we go out and Natalie gets so much attention. She gets people of all ages and men/women who stop and go on and on about how precious she is and her pretty hair. This is great, what mom doesn't like to hear that about her child? But when Juliana is also there my heart just aches for her. Sometimes, the person complimenting Natalie will say something nice about Juliana. Most of the time, though, it is all about the red hair. Who knew this would be such a big deal?? I just hope that I can build my big girl up so that she doesn't grow up feeling like she needs to have red hair to be pretty.

Count Your Blessings with Shutterfly's 2010 Holiday Card Collection

I love Shutterfly! I have always used Shutterfly for photo books and for prints but I have never gotten my Christmas cards there. So, I was so excited to look through all of the choices for cards this holiday season because I signed up for the "Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly" promotion http://bit.ly/sfly2010. I am so impressed by all of the options that are on Shutterfly's website! They are so colorful and can include one picture or many more! It was so difficult to pick but my favorite card is:

This card can be found at http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/count-your-blessings-christmas-5x7-folded-card.

My choice is a 5x7 folded card but they also have 5x7 stationary cards. These two cards are so colorful and fun!





Go here to see the Christmas photo cards http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery.

Go here to see New Year's cards http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/new-years-cards

I can't wait to start taking pictures of my girls to create my cards! Go to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards to get started on your own Christmas cards! Have fun and look for codes for shipping and discounts before you order!

Giveaways

I have to admit it. I am obsessed with giveaways. I spend way too much time on Twitter and Facebook and other blogs going through a list of time wasting things to get another entry to some random giveaway that I probably won't win. It is ridiculous and I know it, but I still do it! My goal this year, because we are so low in cash, is to win all of our Christmas presents. So far, I have won a couple things for my girls and some things for the nieces. That isn't too bad but I have a long way to go to get everything I hope to give my kids. So, I guess I will continue to waste my time filling out form after form in search of the next Christmas present! I should probably just get a part time job and earn the money to buy the presents. Wait... don't tell my husband that!

former teacher

I was a teacher for ten years before I became a happy SAHM. Every once in awhile I get hit with a wave of missing my teaching career. Today was one of those days. I went to J's first preschool parent teacher conference. I have never been the parent, only the teacher in the whole conference thing. It went well but I was kind of sad because it made me miss it, only the good part of teaching of course. Not the teaching to the test, bad kids, bad parents, etc. So, when both kids were asleep I went through some of my teaching materials. I was determined to find books to teach J to read. Did I mention she is only 3? I just felt compelled to be apart of that world again. It was good though because it got me to look at the mound, extremely humongous mound, of teaching supplies that are sitting rotting in the damp molding basement. It was good to remind myself to do something about it or I won't have any materials to use when I do go back to teaching someday. I removed exactly 4 books, 1 binder and 1 shoebox. That really helps. But maybe I can get J to read or maybe I will get myself in gear to do something with the basement....you never know!